My Funny Valentine
by Life is but a Dream2000
Summary: Chappie 11 UP! Last Chapter! Obsession, he was driven to madness by his demons.
1. The First Meeting, Februrary 12

Hello all! Ok, since this is my first horror fic, I'm putting my newly invented flaming policy into action. What is my flaming policy you ask? Ok, this is it. If I get no flames, everything's sunshine and puppies, and everyone gets kissed by Kirby Morrow, except for the guys, you can either get kissed by some hot anime chick or you can choose the mysterious "Eclipse". Who's Eclipse you ask? Anyone ever heard of Demon Dairy? If you haven't, you'll have to wait for the next chapter!  
  
Then, if I do get flamed, I have Kirby Morrow and Steven Jay Blum and some...hot anime voice actress chick locked up over a tank that has sharks with fricking laser beams attached to their heads. Flame me, and I drop them into the tank! No, I'm just messing with ya, if it sucks, FLAME AWAY! Seriously, go ahead! I won't mind! ^_^ So yah, my first horror story, Spike has a stalker, and a crazy effed-up one too! Anywho, here it is!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Cowboy Bebop or any related material!  
  
This fic rated R for just some creepy and disturbing stuff!  
  
The room. Now quiet and pitch black as the grave. It had been closed off for years, not even the teenagers dared each other to go in there. Now it is calm, at peace. But oh, if these walls could talk. They could tell tales not for the squeamish and describe scenes of torture that would chill you to the bone. Now they tell such a tale of lust, murder, and solitude. Back twenty years ago, when lights shone from the ceiling, and these walls had company.  
  
Once again, the room was dark, but it knew it wouldn't stay that way for long. The clock on the wall read twenty minutes to nine and the master would be home soon. Sure enough, twenty minutes later, the room's only door opened and in walked a man. He didn't turn on the lights, but instead kept the door open as his source of light and headed over to the TV at the far side of the room. The man had a fair complexion and had the looks of what most women would call today, a lady killer, with his blue eyes and brown pony-tailed hair, definitely a knock-out. He sat down in a chair in front of it and switched on the television.  
  
A banjo began to play in the background as a gun came on the screen and then turned towards the man. The gun goes off with a comical "BANG!" and then the title "Big Shot" takes the place of the gun. A dark skinned man and a blonde woman dressed as cowboys appear on the screen, the hosts of the show Punch and Judy. "Howdy, all three hundred thousand bounty hunters in the star system, how ya'll doin'?" Punch said, giving the camera a friendly smile and wave.  
  
"Oh boy, it's time for Big Shot, the show that tells all about fugitives!" Judy's cheerful voice chimed in.  
  
"We have a great show for you today cowboys, but first it's time for today's hot news," Punch said. "Now then, you all know that murderer who's been hopping around the planets, moons, and asteroids, infamously known as "Tiger" right?"  
  
"Oh yah! That guy had a huge fifteen million woolong bounty on his head!"  
  
"Well, sorry to all you cowboys out there, but that rascal was caught yesterday by the well known bounty hunter, Spike Spiegel!" A picture of Spike appears on the screen and the man's breath picks up.  
  
"Wow, what a handsome guy!" Judy said, getting all starry eyed. "And for all you women out there remember that Valentine's Day is coming up and Mr. Spiegel is single!"  
  
"Well, we know where one of Mr. Spiegel's valentine's is coming from!" Punch said with a chuckle.  
  
"Really Punch? I had no idea that you swayed that way!" Judy said with a giggle.  
  
"Wha?! What the heck are you talking about Judy?! I was talking about you!"  
  
"Oh whoops! My mistake! Sorry Punch."  
  
Punch just shook his head and then exclaimed, "Wow! It's time for a commercial! But be sure to stick around for more Big Shot!" Punch said, winking and giving the camera a thumbs-up.  
  
The man got up from his chair and switched off the television. He walked over to the door where only a dim light was shinning through, even though it was wide open. Still, by that light you could see wetness in the crotch of his pants and a distinct bulge as if he'd recently jacked off. "Spiiiiiiiike," he hissed to himself, turning on the lights in the room. Save for the space for the light on the ceiling and the light switch, every inch of the room was covered with pictures of Spike. Many of them were doubles of the same picture and they were shot from all different angles with the camera.  
  
The man went into the hallway outside the room only to return a few seconds later dragging a long black bag. With great difficulty, the man pulled and dragged the bag to the center of the room. There, he unzipped it to reveal the mangled corpse of a woman. She had flowing black hair, though now it was tainted and sticky with blood, and what appeared to be a red party dress. Here and there on the dress were little specs of white, indicating the dress's original color. Both of her arms were badly cut and her legs were broken at odd angles, probably so the body could fit in the bag.  
  
Her torso was completely ripped open from the collar bone all the way down to the hips. Every organ in her body had 5 stab wounds as a minimum. Yet surprisingly with al this carnage done to her body, her face remained untouched, not a scratch on it. The expression on the woman's face however was one of a scream of terror and pain. The eyes were close to bulging and her jaw was open as wide as it could go.  
  
The man dumped the body out of the bag onto the ground and then flipped it face up, arranging the legs so they were straight and the arms right at her sides. The man worked quickly, as if he was getting ready for an inspection. When he seemed to feel satisfied, he went over to a corner of the room and lifted up a floorboard, taking out another bag from underneath. He then unzipped the bag to reveal decapitated heads, each in a different stage of decay. Most were the heads of women, but there were a few heads of incredibly handsome men. Or at least they had been handsome at one time. He picked out a head out of the bag that had the kind of calm look on her face that made you feel uneasy. He took the head over to the corpse and dangled it by its hair up and down the corpse. He then took the head in his hands and took on a high pitch voice, facing the head towards himself. "Oh Obsession," he said to the head in the high voice. "You promised me that you would stop after me you bad man! At least you usually wait a month between killings as not to draw suspicion. You killed me last week!" It was true that the girls head did seem the freshest.  
  
Regaining his normal voice, he replied to the head, "I know Stacey, I'm sorry, but I couldn't help myself! She was getting so dull, the same routine everyday. And what do you mean, "I promised you"? You were the one who convinced me to kill her!" He then faced the bag and took on a different pitch of woman's voice.  
  
"No, it was me Obsession. Your memory is going down the drain these days," he said to the bag while walking towards it. When he got to the bag, he squatted down and pulled out another head. This one was in a high state of decay with the skin all wrinkled and falling off.  
  
His voice went back to normal and he said, "Oh yes, you're right Jackalyne! It WAS you! My memory is truly failing isn't it."  
  
"So, who is this girl? What's her name?" Obsession asked in Stacey's voice.  
  
"Her name is Carol and she's going to be your new roommate! She's a nurse at the hospital down the block!" Obsession said to Stacey's head.  
  
"Oh good, I was getting so tired of hearing the same stories over and over again!" Obsession said in Jackalyne's voice.  
  
"Yes, she should have plenty to talk about!" Obsession said in a cheerful voice. With that, Obsession set down the two girl's heads, facing them towards the corpse, and went back to the hole in the floor. He took out a bloody double-bladed axe and brought it over to the corpse. He carefully lined up the axe and the neck, lifted up the axe above his head, and then brought it down with one mighty swing. Carol's head went rolling away to one of the walls, as if Carol's will was still driving herself to get away from Obsession, even after death. Obsession walked over and picked the head up, smiling at the horrified expression on its face. He brought it over to the bag and held the head up so it was looking at him eye to eye. "Welcome to your new home Carol! I'm sure that you'll love it here! Feel free to mingle," he said and with that, dropped the head into the bag.  
  
"Well Obsession, you've killed another one, now what are you going to do with your time?" Obsession asked Jackalyne's head in her voice, picking it up. As he picked it up, one of Jackalyne's eyes fell out of its socket, the eyelid so rotten that it could no longer hold it in. Obsession quickly swooped down and picked up the eye.  
  
"Oh Jackalyne, your eye fell out again," Obsession said, back in his regular voice. He carefully put the eye back in its socket and kissed Jackalyne's head on the cheek. "There's my girl, all better!"  
  
"Am I even your girl anymore?" Obsession said, talking in Jackalyne's voice again. "You've had so many girls after me, I'm not even sure that you love me anymore!"  
  
"Oh Jackalyne, of course I still love you! You were my first love and nothing can change that!" Obsession said.  
  
"Obsession, you always were sweet," Obsession said in Jackalyne's voice. "Now then, who are you going to go after next? I've seen how terribly bored that you get."  
  
"Isn't it fairly obvious?" Obsession asked, pointing around to the pictures covering his walls. "His name's Spike Spiegel and he's a bounty hunter. He makes me so happy honey; I think that he could be the one!"  
  
"That's what you said about the last three guys," Obsession said in Stacey's voice, picking up her head.  
  
"Yah, but this time it's different!" Obsession insisted. "Spike it special, he's a real man."  
  
"I'm gonna tell the guys that you said that," Obsession said in a taunting Stacey voice. "They won't talk to you again for weeks!"  
  
"Do it and I'll make you disappear just like Kathryn. You remember Kathryn, don't you?" Obsession said. His voice didn't go over into a higher pitch and that seemed to satisfy him greatly. "Now then, it's time to go to bed my angels!" He put the two heads in the bag and hid it under the floor along with the axe. He then stuffed the body back in the bag that it came in and dragged it to the door. He looked up at eh clock that hung over it, it read one-thirty in the morning. "Oh dear me, it keeps running later every time," Obsession said to himself. By the door, Obsession kept a calendar where you rip off one page for each day. He ripped off a calendar page, turned off the lights, and dragged the body off, leaving February twelfth exposed to the darkness.  
  
Well, there you have it! I know, the first chapter's sh*t, but I think that it gets better, and maybe a bit scarier. ^_^ We'll see what you think! Anywho, bubye!  
  
The Dream Goes On as I Walk in the Rain on L8ter Dayz.  
  
Life is but a Dream2000 


	2. Obsession's Gift, February 12

Hey you guys! Yo what's up! I'm back with anther chapter and apparently horror's not as popular as I thought! Or maybe I just suck at this! ^_^ Anywho, this has some comic relief in it, so I hope that you enjoy!  
  
Disclaimer: I, at no point, have ever said that I own Cowboy Bebop...ok so maybe I have! Tequila was involved, get off me! ^_^ Sorry, Blue Collar Comedy Tour!  
  
Back on the Bebop, Spike was lying on the couch, his head surrounded by the usual cloud of smoke. He had a smug look on his face for a reason that was obvious if you took a look around the room. There was stack after stack of pink and red envelopes containing Valentines and the place reeked of perfume from the scented cards. Every now and then, Jet or Faye would come in to complain about the smell, but Spike ignored them. He was far too content basking in the glow of his own popularity to do anything else. "Hey Spike, you vain bastard, are you ever going to do any work around here?" Jet yelled as he walked into the ship's living room. "You think that just because you got fan mail that you're above us?"  
  
"Hey, vanity has its perks!" Spike said, flashing a million-dollar smile. "Plus, listen to this!" Spike picked up a small pink envelope from the pile and read aloud ..  
  
"Dear Mr. Spiegel,  
  
I love you so much! You're so brave and so handsome! Why did you ever become a bounty hunter?! You could've had a career in modeling! Bounty hunting is such dangerous work and you could ruin your face or even die! I hear that you live on a ship with two other bounty hunters, don't let them push you around! You're above them! You caught that big bounty all by your self and," umm, I'll skip over that part, "signed your future wife, Betty 'Big Bertha' Stallone", see? It says right there that I'm above you! So ha!"  
  
"What was that part that you skipped over?" Jet asked crossing his arms and leaning against the wall.  
  
"Oh, it was nothing..." Spike said hastily trying to stuff the letter back in its envelope. However, Jet was too fast and grabbed the envelope. He took out the letter and skimmed down the lines, looking for that part that Spike had skipped over.  
  
".. 'I was wondering if you would have your children with me and my friends'?!" Jet said with a look of disgust. "Please say that you're not considering this! That's just gross! Oh yah, and if you reply to this be sure to tell the lady how Faye and I chased the guy for five hours and tired him out, causing extensive damage to the Hammerhead while doing it, and all that you did was punch him in the face!"  
  
"I personally think that that proves the power of one of my punches, I'm stronger then I look," Spike gloated putting his hands behind his head.  
  
"Just keep thinking that Spike," Jet said smiling and shaking his head.  
  
"I will thanks!" Spike said glancing over at Jet. The door on the landing above the couch opened and in walked Faye, wearing her ever revealing outfit of gold. She was carrying a medium sized red box that she had to hold with two hands. As soon as she walked in, the scent of Spike's valentines was wiped out and replaced with the horrible stench of decay. Faye was holding the box away from her at arms length, her nose wrinkled up and she looked like she was going to barf. Spike and Jet held their noses tight, but the smell seemed to encase them like a blanket. They began gagging and coughing. Spike eventually managed to say, "Is that smell you or the box?" Faye shook the box indicating that it came from there, afraid to open her mouth.  
  
"Well then get it out of here!" Jet yelled, the consequence of his action, going into a raging coughing fit. Faye, still refusing to open her mouth shook the box again, un-meaningly increasing the smell, and then tilted her head towards Spike, making 'hmmm' noises, indicating that the package was for Spike. Jet, having gotten over his coughing fit and like everyone else tiring of the smell, cupped his hands over his mouth and took a deep breath in. He took his hands away from his mouth and ran over to Faye, took the box, threw it out into a hallway, and closed the connecting door. Everyone began fanning the air around them, and eventually the air became breathable, though it still stank.  
  
"Why did you bring that thing in here?!" Jet screamed at Faye, fanning the air in front of his face.  
  
"I told you, well, more like motioned to you that the package was for Spike," Faye said.  
  
"Who gave it to you? How did you know that it was for me?" Spike asked, keeping his face as straight as he could.  
  
"More importantly, why did you even bring it here if it stunk so much?" Jet added in.  
  
"It didn't start reeking like that until I brought it on the ship!" Faye stated defensively.  
  
"Would you mind explaining yourself Faye?" Spike asked, sitting up and putting his elbows on his knees.  
  
"Ok, I guess that I'll start from the beginning," Faye said. "Well, it all started when I was at the track, I had ten thousand woolongs on a horse that was a sure win, but with my luck of course, he came in last place."  
  
"Is any of this relevant?" Jet asked. "Get on with it!"  
  
"Alright, alright," Faye said. "So anyway, I came out into the parking lot and there's this guy with brown hair and a trench coat kinda poking around the Red Tail carrying a package. He had this pretty desperate look in his eyes and I thought that maybe he was trying to steal it or something, so I yelled over to him. He looked over at me with this half crazed/ half worried look on his face, sets the package sown, and then runs off. So anyway, I ran after the guy out of the parking lot, but he leaps into a cab. So then I go back to the Red Tail and look over the package, and .."  
  
"Weren't you afraid that it was a bomb or something?!" Jet interrupted.  
  
"I didn't see how it could be a bomb; it was wrapped in sparkly paper with little hearts!" Faye returned putting her hands on her hips.  
  
"You just ripped it open without even thinking about it, didn't you," Spike said with a smirk. "Even though it was for me."  
  
"Well, the first part is true, but I didn't even know that it was for you until I took off the paper," Faye said glancing downward. "There was a card underneath, taped to the box. So, I figured that I shouldn't open it,"  
  
"For once."  
  
"Cause I know how huffy you get about these things Spike!" Faye said. "I packed it up into the Red Tail and brought it back here. While I was bringing it back, it started to smell a bit funky, but I figured maybe the guy had made you something Spike. Like a Valentine's Day fruitcake, pun intended.  
  
"Very funny, you should have been a comedian Faye." Spike said.  
  
"Yah well anyway, I brought it onto the ship and by that time the smell really started to pick up," Faye said. "I'm guessing that the wrapping acted as some kind of insulation. I'm pretty sure that there's something rotten in that package. I started running to get it to you quick, but the smell just got worse. Then you know the rest. SO, what do you think is in that box?"  
  
"You said that there was a note on that box right?" Spike asked. "Hand it over, maybe it'll tell us what's in there."  
  
"Oh right," Faye said. She began digging franticly in the red jacket that she always carried around.  
  
"You do still have it, don't you?" Spike asked. His tone suggested that he knew Faye had lost it.  
  
"I know that I had it around here somewhere," Faye said getting frustrated. "I could have sworn that I put it in one of these pockets, where the fuck is it?!"  
  
"Well, so ends another episode of wasting time with Faye," Jet said with a bit of a laugh.  
  
(Transfer interrupted! ^_^ I got that Jet quote from "Cowboy Bebop: The Movie. Just be glad that I don't have them break into a startling rendition of "Ask DNA"!)  
  
"Ah-HA! Here it is!" Faye cried triumphantly, pulling an envelope out of her shirt between her breasts. "I KNEW that I had it around here somewhere! Here you go Spike."  
  
Faye handed over the envelope and Spike took it with his thumb and pointer finger. He gave Faye a look of disgust and she gave him a 'what did I do?!' look. After a few minutes of shaking the envelope and wiping it on the table, Spike finally opened it. Inside was a big pink card with what appeared to be a finger-painted heart on the front and center of the card. The 'paint' was a very deep red and it smelled odd. Spike had a hunch of what it was, but he hoped that he was wrong. "Is that..blood?" Faye asked, leaning over Spike's shoulder.  
  
"I frankly don't wanna know," Spike said, picking at the heart with his fingernail.  
  
"Why don't you just open it already?!" Jet yelled, felling overly-curious and frustrated.  
  
"Alright," Spike said. He carefully opened up the letter. Inside there was a poem, written in red ink. It read:  
"Roses are read, violets are blue,  
I hear that you hate tomboys, so I killed one for you.  
She ran 'til she shook but I did what it took,  
To rid space of one of your annoyances."  
  
It was signed "Your valentine, Obsession". Spike didn't want to know what was in the box anymore. However, Jet seemed to want to know more then ever. He ran off and was back in a few minutes with three gas masks. When everyone had theirs secure, Jet opened the door and brought in the box. Spike pointed ot himself and then to the box, asking if he should open it. Jet and Faye nodded in unison. Spike shrugged his shoulders and cracked his knuckles. He leaned forward and pulled the lod off the box. Inside there was a woman's head with her heart shoved in her mouth. Written across her forehead in red was "Be my Valentine!"  
  
Spike slammed the lid back on the box and ran out of the room, Jet and Faye at his heels. They ran into the control room and threw off their masks. Spike had his hand over his mouth out of shock or nausea, maybe both. Faye as shaking slightly and Jet was rubbing his temples.  
  
"This is bad," he said. "That was from Obsession, the murdering stalker with fifty million on his head."  
  
Oooooo! Maybe a cliffhanger! Maybe? No? Whatever. Hope you enjoyed, next chappie up soon! ^_^ 


	3. Brad's Tale, February 12

Back by popular demand, ok, semi-popular, ok ok I just felt like putting up another chapter so sue me! ^_^ So yah, here's the next chapter!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Cowboy Bebop, but I do own my original character Obsession!  
  
Obsession wasn't always like this. It may be hard to believe, but he was once what most would call a normal, model citizen. His name was Brad, Brad Jacobson, he adopted the title of "Obsession" later on. He used to work for the gate corporation as a trouble-shooter. Many called him some form of genius. His life was above average on its way to near perfection. He had a steady job that paid great, a house, and a beautiful fiancé by the name of, you guessed it, Jackalyne. If Brad had ever had any faults, they were these, he was far too clingy and dependent and he didn't handle rejection well. A very bad combination that would ultimately lead to his downfall.  
  
It all started one day when he came home. He was so excited, he had been promoted to the head of his department which meant more money and that Jackalyne and he would be able to get married finally. He was floating on Cloud 9 as he unlocked his front door. However, who was there to meet him at the front door about to leave but Jackalyne. He asked her where she was going and when she would be back. She gave him the whole truth, bad idea. She was leaving him. She was tired of the phone calls at all hours to see if she was home, tired of being choked by affection, tired of this life, but most of all tired of Brad.  
  
He had a perfectly calm expression on his face as Jackalyne turned and picked up her luggage. No anger on his face as she walked towards him and the door. Closer . . . . . . closer . . . . . .closer . . . . . .then all of a sudden, something in his head snapped. He grabbed the luggage out of Jackalyne's hands, throwing it at the wall. The suitcases broke open upon impact, clothes scattering all over the place. Jackalyne took off at a dead run towards the back door, running for her life. Brad was chasing after her with a mad look in his eyes. He tackled Jackalyne, turning her over face-up. He pinned her arms by her sides by putting his knees on her hands.  
  
His hands wrapped around her throat and he began choking her, moving her head up and down as he did it. He kept chanting "You're Not Going To Leave ME!" over and over again, his hands still tight around her neck. Jackalyne was clawing at his hands, but no matter what she did, she couldn't stop him. With one final gasp and a snapping noise as her esophagus broke, she died. Brad just kept choking her, even after she was dead. Finally he seemed to get some sort of grip on himself and got off Jackalyne.  
  
He went over to the phone and dialed 9-1-1. When the police officer answered the phone, Brad put on a shocked and grieving voice. "It's my fiancé . . . . She's . . . ." Brad started. He then looked from his hands over to Jackalyne. He had strangled her without thinking in any way to conceal that he did it. His fingerprints were all over her throat. What was he going to do? Then, a thought came to him. "It's my fiancé," he said. "She's dead! I-I just came home from work and there she was on the ground, h-her head chopped off."  
  
"Ok sir, please calm down," the officer on the other line said. "We're on our way, we'll be there in a few minutes."  
  
"Thank you" Brad said in a fake sad voice. He ran outside to his back yard as soon as he'd hung up the phone. He quickly found what he was looking for; leaning up against an old shed was a double-bladed axe. It was an antique that he'd picked up at some point for a reason that he couldn't remember. Still, now it had its use. He ran back inside and over to Jackalyne's body. Not thinking and not even bothering to line it up in any way, Brad lifted the axe over his head and swung. It was a very weak swing and the axe didn't even damage the spine. The only thing that it did was release a blood flow. It seeped from her neck, splattered on Brad's pants, and dripped from the axe. Brad stood there with his axe, totally unnerved by the gruesome sight. He brought the axe back over his head and swung even harder this time. This made a gash in the spine that went halfway through. Brad was starting to get paranoid; he could hear the cop cars coming from down the street. He swung the axe one more time at his ex-fiancé's neck and her head came clear off.  
  
Brad looked down at Jackalyne's corpse. She had always been so full of life; it was almost funny to see her lying there dead. He began to chuckle to himself and went over and picked up Jackalyne's head. His chuckle turned into a mad laugh.  
  
"It's not that funny you know," a voice said suddenly. Brad stopped his laugh and looked around the room, wide-eyed. It wasn't possible, that voice sounded exactly like Jackalyne! He looked down at the head that he held in his hands, could it be? He lifted the head up to meet his gaze.  
  
"Jackalyne?" he asked almost cautiously, a 'lost little puppy' look in his eyes. For the longest time, silence, then . . . .  
  
"Who else would it be stupid?" Jackalyne's voice filled Brad's head. Jackalyne's head was titled the smallest bit to the side on her stub of a neck, her lips parted as if she was about to talk, her un-seeing eyes staring straight into Brad's. It was almost as if she was taunting him in some way!  
  
"Jackalyne . . . how?" Brad asked the head, as if expecting it to pop back to life any second.  
  
"We don't exactly have time for your idiotic questions right now honey," Jackalyne's voice said, this time her words coming out of Brad's mouth. "The police will be here any second and you being the smart on, have just killed me. And worse, for no good reason . . ."  
  
"You were going to leave me!" Brad shouted at Jackalyne's head, shaking it slightly as if that would do any good.  
  
"You didn't let me finish," Jackalyne's voice said in a 'oh-you're-so- silly' voice. "I mean in their eyes! I know that I was wrong! How could I leave you?"  
  
"Oh Jackalyne," Brad said hugging the head. "You always could make me smile."  
  
"I know honey." Jackalyne's voice said. "But come on, you have to grab the axe and run, the police will be here soon!"  
  
"But what about your body?" Brad said, motioning to the headless corpse on the ground.  
  
"Leave it!" Jackalyne yelled. "We have no time!" Brad's face was screwed up with Jackalyne's anger and then it went to a face begging for mercy.  
  
"Alright honey, I'm going." With that he picked up the axe and ran out the back door just as the police pulled up in front of the house.  
  
Obsession woke with a start, sitting up straight in bed. Sweat was dripping from his forehead down past his eyes where they were mixed in with tears. Those same images haunted him night after night. Always the first kill, always remembering his loss. He was am monster and he was frequently reminded of it. All of his past obsessions, voices, swimming around inside his head, each one calling out, each one trying to be heard above the rest. They were his madness, his demons, they were him.  
  
Obsession layed back on his elbows, running a hand through his hair and breathing deep. "Why must you haunt me like this?" Obsession asked the darkness that surrounded him. The darkness didn't answer Obsession back, and he hated it for that. And yet he loved it, in the darkness he could hide. Hide himself, hide his sins, hide the corpses. He was mad and he knew it . . . but he didn't care.  
  
He slowly got up and out of bed and walked over to a small table that he had in the room. On it sat an over-stuffed picture frame with two candles on either side of it. The picture frame had originally sat on Brad's mantelpiece with a picture of Jackalyne as its only occupant. A few years ago, Obsession had gone back to his house to get it, on Jackalyne's request. Now, Jackalyne's picture was pushed all the way back in a stack of more then twenty pictures.  
  
Obsession put in the picture of his latest desire in the picture frame whenever he found a new one, shoving the picture in front of the old. Before, there had been a picture of Carol sitting at an outside diner talking on her cell phone. Now however, that was replaced by a picture of Spike. Although, it was a picture of the back of his head. His face was turned a bit so you could see a sliver of his face, as if he were looking over his shoulder.  
  
Obsession picked up the picture and stroked the glass where Spike's hair was. "Hello my angel," he whispered. He went back over to his bed and laid back down, putting the picture on the pillow next to him. He propped it up so that he was looking at it directly; it gave the illusion that Spike was lying right next to him. He scooted up so close that his breath caused the glass to fog over, hugging an invisible body that lay next to him. "Spike," he whispered. "My real man, my angel . . ." Obsession fell asleep staring at the picture, hugging air.  
  
Meanwhile back on the Bebop, Spike was lying awake on the familiar yellow couch. It was late but still he couldn't close his eyes. He'd tried to sleep, he really had, but the whole fucking place still smelled like rotten head. Even though as soon as he'd gotten a hold on himself he's chucked that "Valentine" right out into space, it was no good. The smell still lingered and he had a sickening feeling in his stomach. He was being stalked, was he even being watched right now? He could almost feel eyes boring into the back of his head as he stared up at the ceiling fan.  
  
"No Spike," he thought. "That's not how this guy works. He doesn't do hidden cameras. He just does spur of the moment snapshots and then . . ." It was what happened when he tired of Spike that he most feared. For Obsession never, NEVER, left his prey alive.  
  
~*~*~Well, that's it for that chapter! Well, whatcha think? Do I need help? As in psychological? Whatever, hope that you enjoyed, next one coming soon! ~*~*~ 


	4. Cornered Beast, February 13

Dream: Hey people! YAY! I got reviews! I got reviews! I feel so happy! Even though 3 of the reviews were from my friend Deathdragon and the only reason that he read the story was because he was bored. Still! I GOT REVIEWS!!! ^_^;; Anyway, on with the story!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Cowboy Bebop or anything related to it!  
  
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Spike woke up the next morning on the couch, stirred from sleep by Ein licking his hand, and as the saying goes NOBODY is ever happy to hear an alarm bell. "Get away from me you fucking mutt!" Spike yelled at Ein, pulling his hand away. He would have kicked Ein away, if the corgi hadn't ran from the room whimpering. Spike sat up on the couch, putting his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands, rubbing his eyes to get the 'sleep' out. Funny he had any at all; he'd only gotten to sleep an hour ago.  
  
"That damn mutt, man, maybe Obsession will kill him for me," Spike mumbled with a smile. As soon as he said that, he slapped himself. Obsession was a stalker that would kill him eventually if he didn't stop him! This was serious, no reason to smile in the least! Spike yawned and rubbed his face, shit he wanted to sleep again! But he knew that he would never be able to grudgingly got up.  
  
He made his way to the kitchen, praying that Jet would be in there fixing something. At this point, he would even stomach Jet's famous "Bell Peppers and Beef" (A/N: Ever notice how almost every Cowboy Bebop story mentions that at least once?) to get his mind off everything! He got to the kitchen and peered inside, dark as the grave.  
  
Spike yawned and leaned against the door frame, what time was it anyway? He had to admit, this darkness was un-nerving. All of a sudden, something streaked past him. He let out a pre-masculine shriek and fell to the ground. He just saw Ein's tail speeding around the corner at the end of the hall as he sat up. "Stupid dog," he grumbled. "Well, if I can't eat then maybe I should give sleep my best effort." He dragged himself up and started walking back towards the couch, taking his time in no particular rush.  
  
It was only then that he noticed it, a muddy footprint not his own. With closer inspection, he realized that it wasn't Jet's or Faye's either. He stood straight up, stock still, listening for any kind of noise. That only thing that he heard was the sound of Ein sprinting down the hallway. He made his way back to the couch and sat down, draping his arms over the back and staring at the ceiling. "No way am I getting to sleep now," Spike thought to himself with a sigh. Spike heard the door open behind him and he immediately got up into a defensive position, ready to kick ass, only to see a very puffy-eyed Jet leaning across the bars on the balcony.  
  
"You know you have a shriek that could wake the dead?" Jet asked, yawning and stretching.  
  
"I never shriek, that was a . . . . . ." Spike said, trying to come up with an excuse.  
  
"Whatever," Jet said. "It's 5:45, might as well get breakfast ready." Jet slowly made his way down the stairs, pushing Spike onto the couch as he passed him. "That was for waking me up,' he grumbled. Jet looked down as he was saying this and saw the muddy footprint. "Spike, what's that?"  
  
"It's a footprint dumb-ass."  
  
"I mean, how did it get here?"  
  
"I was going to ask you the same question. It's been a day since our last bounty head was on board and we're about 6 hours away from the nearest planet."  
  
"You think we got a stow-away?" Jet asked.  
  
"Don't know, maybe you should search the ship after you make breakfast." Spike suggested, laying back and lighting a cigarette.  
  
"Or maybe your new boyfriend decided to pay a visit," Jet replied, heading towards the kitchen. Spike jumped up, grabbed Jet by the collar, and banged him against the wall. (A/N: NO NOT THAT WAY!!!)  
  
"Don't you even JOKE about that!!" Spike yelled at Jet's face.  
  
"Jesus, I was just trying to be funny buddy, lighten up!" Jet said, trying to pry Spike's hands from his collar.  
  
"You try being calm when you've got a fucking freak after you," Spike grumbled, letting go of Jet. He sat back down and put his head in his hands, damn, since when did he get this emotional?  
  
"This guy really has you scared doesn't he," Jet said with some surprise. He went over and put a hand on Spike's shoulder. "Hey tough guy! No worries, if he's on the ship we'll find him, we'll get him before he gets you! Plus, that bounty on his head'll be mighty nice huh?" Spike sighed and took his head out of his hands with an almost sad smile.  
  
"Thanks for that," he said standing up. "Any chance you could start on that breakfast you were talking about?" Jet let out a laugh and started towards the kitchen with Spike in tow.  
  
While all this was going on, Obsession was watching from above. He'd sneaked onboard by hijacking a ship late last night, and then drilling a hole through the docking bay doors. This was where he belonged, the whole place practically screamed Spike and he couldn't wait to explore every inch of it. Unfortunately, almost as soon as he'd gotten onboard, he'd noticed that the crew was still up and active and he'd been forced to hide. He'd crept around through the ventilation, following Spike wherever he went. The shower room had been a very pleasant sight indeed!  
  
"Just a few more hours my love, just a few more hours until Valentine's Day," Obsession whispered, creeping towards the kitchen. Obsession had hoped that his footprint would be enough to lure Spike to him, he'd been watching over Spike while he slept but that dog had woken him up. As he ran to hide, he'd been excited, Spike was sure to be running after him any second but he'd never come.  
  
Oh well, it was only a matter of time before they started searching the ship for him, and he would follow Spike until he was sure they were alone. Then, but Obsession was getting too excited just thinking about it! His stomach twisted with anticipation as he watched Spike talking with his comrade below.  
  
"Listen, will you get out of the kitchen so I can COOK NOW?!" Jet bellowed at Spike who was flitting around the kitchen criticizing Jet's cooking techniques.  
  
"Man do you run hot and cold," Spike grumbled as he slumped out of the kitchen. He walked out into the living room, completely unaware that Obsession was trailing his every move. Spike sat down on the couch, again, and flipped on the TV.  
  
There was nothing on this early except some oldies kids show about these stupid fat things that had antennas coming out of their heads and TVs on their stomachs. Spike was vaguely amused until they started ranting about "Tubby Tustard!" and he immediately switched the channel. The only other thing on was a televangelist so Spike decided to try to get his hour of religion for the year.  
  
"Do you have regrets?" the televangelist asked.  
  
"Duh, who doesn't," Spike mumbled at the TV.  
  
"Do you feel the hot breath of the devil on your neck?"  
  
"Yes, and it feels quite nice," Spike said sarcastically.  
  
"Oh my Spike is so clever and funny!" Obsession swooned from above.  
  
"Then send me money now to save your soul from eternal damnation!" the TV screamed.  
  
"Yah, I'll put that right on my to-do list."  
  
"You're on mine Spike," Obsession said a little too loudly. Spike was immediately on alert, pulling out his gun and looking left and right.  
  
"Obsession," Spike called. "I know you're somewhere around here! Why don't you just leave me alone before you get hurt?"  
  
"Oh your voice sounds so sexy when you're angry!" Obsession called through the ventilation, giving his voice an echo.  
  
"Shut up you pervert before I kill you!" Spike yelled, pointing his gun at random spots on the ceiling.  
  
"Come and get me then my lovely man," Obsession said as he loudly scurried out of the room laughing like a schoolboy. Spike let out a frustrated yell and began shooting along the tube, trying to follow the sound and hit Obsession.  
  
"God! Damn! You! You! Bitch!" Spike called with every shot he fired. Faye walked into the room via the stairwell to see what all the noise was and to tell off the one who was making it when she saw Spike shooting at the ceiling. She ran the rest of the way down the stairs and tackled Spike just as he was about to fire off another round.  
  
"What the hell do you think you're doing?! This ship is broken enough as it is!" Faye yelled, pinning Spike to the ground.  
  
"Get off me Faye! I'm gonna kill him! He has to be stopped!" Spike yelled, his voice muffled by the ground.  
  
"Who? The Boogie Man? Cause that's all that you're gonna hit shooting at my bedroom floor like that!" Faye said, putting her head right over Spike's shoulder.  
  
"Don't you get it? Obsession's on the ship!! I was trying to shoot him!" Spike said, turning his head to look over his shoulder.  
  
Obsession had heard the gunfire stop and had sneaked back into the living room just in time to get an aerial view of Faye tackling Spike. His eye twitched when Faye didn't get off him right away but instead moved more on top of him. "Get off Spike you HOAR!" Obsession screamed down to her. Faye's head shot up and she started looking wildly around.  
  
"Where'd that come from?!" Faye said.  
  
"It's Obsession again, he's in the ventilation system!" Spike yelled, kicking Faye off and shooting at the ventilation again. Obsession moved out of the way of the shooting but continued to glare at Faye for as long as he could. That was the bitch that had opened Spike's present, and now she was trying to steal Spike way too!  
  
"You'll pay you skank, I'll never let you have him. Spike, I'll give you another little present for Valentine's Day! We'll be together even if I have to kill everyone else on this ship, starting with that little girl!" Obsession said, his eyes crazed.  
  
"Spike, why'd you let him get away?" Faye yelled at Spike after he'd emptied his gun on the ceiling. "He's gonna come after you faster now!"  
  
"That's what you're worried about?" Spike asked, turning around to look at Faye.  
  
"Well what else would I be worried about?" Faye asked, un-nerved by Spike's calmness.  
  
"Your own life."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Obsession saw you tackle me, and then he saw you put your head by mine and me turn my head towards you, but he didn't hear our conversation. Your life's at risk now as much as mine, Obsession thinks that he's got competition."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Dream: Ah yes, bow before my evilness! I think that I'm getting better at this!  
  
Spike: Yah, at torturing me! You must really hate me, don't ya!  
  
Dream: No! Of course not! I love you too much!  
  
Spike: Some way to express love, pray tell what drove you to this weird fan fiction abomination?  
  
Dream: *fumes*(SEWER GAS! ^_^) Well, to tell you the truth, I started this story over the summer. One night I was awoken for no reason at about 3 o'clock in the morning with this idea in my head. It just went on from there!  
  
Spike: M-hmm and you're positive that pot was not involved in this in any way?  
  
Dream: SPIKE!!  
  
Spike: Hey, I was just making sure!  
  
Dream: Anyway, the next chapter will be up soon! I kind of have to finish it first! ^_~  
  
The Dream Goes On as I Walk in the Rain on L8ter Dayz . . .  
  
Life is but a Dream2 0 0 0 (The *Dream*er) 


	5. Confrontation, 6 through 9 AM

Hey peoples! Ok, thanks to all the people who have reviewed and thanks to Deathdragon for being my "suspense" coach on this. Couldn't have done it without you man! Anyway, here it is, the next chapter!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Cowboy Bebop, poor, Alaska, you know the story.  
  
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"Wha-what did you say?" Faye asked, fear showing plainly on her face.  
  
"Obsession thinks that you're, I don't know, my girlfriend or something. That yell proves it," Spike said, running his hand through his hair and rubbing his eyes. "Oh this day just keeps getting better!"  
  
"But I'm not your girlfriend, I'M NOT!" she began yelling it repeatedly at the ceiling, shaking all over. Spike grabbed her by the shoulders and put one of his hands over her mouth.  
  
"What's going on out there you lunk-heads?!" Jet called with an agitated voice from the kitchen.  
  
"Oh nothing, just a brief encounter with the stow-away," Spike called casually from the living room, earning a muffled whine from Faye.  
  
"What'd you say?" Jet said, coming out of the kitchen and walking into the living room. As he entered, he saw Spike holding onto Faye with one hand over her mouth and Faye on the edge of tears. "What's going on here?"  
  
"Well . . . ." Spike said. "It's kind of complicated. Spike then let out a yell, taking his hand away from Faye's mouth revealing her bared teeth. Blood began seeping slowly from the bite mark on Spike's hand.  
  
"There's nothing complicated about it!" Faye yelled, slipping slowly onto the floor and hugging her legs to herself. "Obsession's on the ship and he's going to kill me."  
  
"What?" Jet asked, a confused look dominating his features. "Obsession's after Spike, not YOU Faye."  
  
"I was shooting at him, Faye didn't know and ran in to stop me, Obsession saw her tackle me, and to cut a long story short now thinks that Faye and I are . . . ." Spike said.  
  
"Involved?" Jet finished, doing air quotes as he said it. Spike and Faye solemnly nodded and Jet let out a huge sigh. He went over and helped Faye up onto the couch and sat down next to her. "So what're we going to do now?"  
  
"Well, since it's two out of three people on this ship's problem, the answer should be fairly obvious. We have to go through the ship and find Obsession." Spike said, showing unusual calmness.  
  
"You sure that's not just what Obsession wants?" Jet asked.  
  
"Hey, if I'm going down then I'd mush rather go down fighting then waiting for him to come get me," Spike said staring up at the ceiling viewing his marksmanship.  
  
"You would say that," Jet said with a smile. "Ok then, let's do this. Spike, you start on the lower decks, I'll start in the control room, and Faye you just stay here and try to keep calm."  
  
"What about breakfast?" Spike asked in a whiney voice.  
  
"Weren't you the one who was all 'on edge' before about this?" Jet said. "We're going to go find this guy and stop him before he kills somebody! How can you think of your stomach at a rime like this?!"  
  
"Ok, ok, no need to bite my head off!"  
  
"It's called payback little buddy!" Jet said still smiling.  
  
"So are you going then?" Faye asked, having gotten over her tears.  
  
"Yah, ok Faye, you stay here. Set Ein on patrol or something. If he starts barking you take this gun and you run ok? Run like hell and yell for us," Spike said, setting a gun on the table. Faye gave a short nod and picked up the gun. "Alright then Jet, let's get going." Spike got up and went over to the hallway door.  
  
"You sure that you'll be okay Faye?" Jet asked, going over to the staircase. HE had a generally worried look on his face, he and Faye didn't get along the best but that didn't mean that he wanted her dead.  
  
"Yah, I'll be fine," Faye said with another short nod. "Just catch the bastard and give him hell."  
  
"Will do," Spike said with a thumbs-up heading through the door. Jet gave a thumbs-up too and headed off upstairs. Now Faye was left all alone except for Ein, and to tell the truth that didn't make her feel much better. Ein would be able to signal if Obsession was coming sure, but his worth pretty much ended there. Faye patted the couch cushion next to her and the little Welsh corgi jumped up and into her lap.  
  
"You can't by any chance turn into a Doberman pincher can ya?" Faye asked the little dog, giving him a scratch behind the ears. Ein's ears drooped and he lay down in Faye's lap. "Guess I'll take that as a no. Ok Ein, can you go off and patrol the halls for me?" To Faye's surprise, Ein seemed to understand perfectly. He gave her a little lick on the face and headed off down the hallway.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Meanwhile about 5 floors down, Spike was exploring one of the many storage rooms of the Bebop's lower decks. While he was trying to keep calm, he couldn't help feeling like he was in some sort of a horror movie. (A/N: Which he is . . . . .) All around the room were different shaped items covered in white sheets. "No wonder Obsession came on the Bebop, there are more places to hide then you can count," Spike thought out loud, shinning his flashlight around. Worse still, the old ship was so rickety that in those bottom decks everywhere that you stepped was squeaky. Spike was totally on edge, sweat dripping from his forehead and all, and then he felt something rush past his leg. He pulled out his gun but in his haste he ended up loosing his balance.  
  
He fell over into a hard body underneath a sheet behind him. "You'll never take me alive bitch!" he yelled, struggling to get up out of the tangle of sheets. As he stood up he pulled off the sheet, ready to shoot to kill. However, it turned out to be nothing more then an old modeling dummy, like the kind that are used in store windows. Spike shuddered when he noticed that the dummy had no head. "Ok Spike, you're just freaking yourself out here," he whispered to himself. He re-erected the dummy, putting the sheet back over it. "One room down, countless numbers to go."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Back up on the main deck, Jet was pounding furiously on a control panel. The panel had a series of black screens in front of it and this seemed to be driving Jet's fury. "C'mon you piece of shit! Work!!" Jet yelled, slamming both fists down on the panel, pressing random buttons as he did. All of a sudden, all the screens lit up with different pictures. "Yes! Genius at work!" Back when Spike and Jet had first teamed up, one of their first bounties had managed to escape after robbing their ship. To make sure that that would never happen again, Jet had installed security cameras all over the place. Store rooms, ventilation, hallways, living room, everywhere but the bathroom. Jet looked around on the cameras; Obsession was nowhere to be seen. Spike was downstairs freaking out over a store-window dummy, Faye was lying down in the living room, and Ein was busy sniffing around in the hallway. "Good, everything seems to be okay here." With that, Jet walked out of the room towards one of the upper-deck storage rooms.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Ein had been walking up and down hallways on the living room floor for a few hours now and he hadn't sensed and thing. He knew Obsession's scent and it hung to the hallways, but it was old. As the little dog came to a stop at another dead-end hallway, he perked up his ears and sniffed wildly in the air. Again, no scent and no noises from the man who'd been standing over Spike. Ein didn't understand this at all, why was that man on the ship? He'd been watching over Spike as he slept with a protective look in his eye . . . maybe he was Spike's bodyguard! Yah, that's it! And everybody's looking for him because he was patrolling the halls like he was! Ein walked around a little bit more still not finding the man, so he decided to go back to Faye to see if he could comfort her anymore.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
As Ein walked down the hall, Faye heard him coming. She turned towards him, eyes wide, but her expression went back to normal when she saw that it was just the dog. Ein came at her a bit faster, but just as he passed the kitchen he stopped suddenly. His nose went up in the air and he began sniffing wildly, turning to look into the kitchen. He smelt it, the scent that clung to that man, blood and rotten meat. He made a move to step into the kitchen, but then he saw something move in the darkness.  
  
From inside the kitchen, Obsession stepped out of the blackness. He wore a blue trench coat over street clothes and his hair was over his eyes. He stepped out into the middle of the hallway still facing the opposing wall, and then he turned his head towards Faye . . . and smiled. Faye stared in horror at that smile. She began moving her mouth but no sound would come out. She tried to scream, but she couldn't even whisper. He began walking towards her and she got up, backing away slowly.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Ein didn't understand this, why was it so quiet? He began barking, trying to get the attention of someone who'd explain this to him.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Faye looked from the barking Ein to Obsession and Obsession's smile broadened. Faye turned to take off running like the Devil was at her heels, but that stupid living room table tripped her. Obsession walked over to her and in one fluid motion she was on her back with him on top of her and his hands around her neck. "What's the matter little bitch?" Obsession asked her tauntingly, leaning in and putting more weight on her neck. "Are you only strong when you're forcing yourself on something that's not yours?!" Tears began streaming down the sides of Faye's face, she was going to die. "Oh don't waste your tears; I have no compassion for you! You're nothing but a whore, an obstacle in my way to Spike. I won't let you have him, he's MINE!"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Jet had been searching around upstairs when he heard Ein begin barking. He didn't hear Faye though and he thought if Obsession was around she'd be screaming her head off. So he made his way down to the living room, but he was in no particular hurry. He wasn't in a hurry that is, until he started coming down the stairs into the living room. A man with brown hair had Faye pinned to the ground and was strangling her. His 'black dog' instincts kicked in and he sprinted the rest of the way down the stairs. Obsession heard him and looked over his shoulder, but hearing wouldn't do him any good.  
  
"Get off her you monster!" Jet yelled, leaping at Obsession. He ended up on top of him on the ground and he began punching Obsession's face. Obsession kneed Jet in the stomach and kicked at him to get him off. He began standing up but Jet pushed him up against the wall. Obsession tried to punch Jet in the face and Jet punched him in the stomach with his cybernetic arm. Obsession slumped forward and fell to the ground.  
  
Jet ran over to Faye after giving Obsession a swift kick in the groin, her eyes were closed and he feared the worst. He grabbed her by the shoulders and began shaking her. "Faye! Get up! Come on Faye, don't be dead! Open your eyes!!" he screamed. Faye's eyes fluttered open and her lower lip started to tremble. She sat up and cried into his chest, shaking as the sobs came. Jet put his arms around her like a father comforting his daughter who'd just woken up from a nightmare. "Sh-h-h, it's ok. You're safe now," Jet whispered. Just then, Spike burst through the door, breathing hard from running.  
  
"I-I heard Ein, and then you started yelling. Is everything ok?!" Spike asked.  
  
"Obsession was trying to strangle Faye; I managed to kno-" Jet started, looking over at the wall where the scuffle had ended . . . . Obsession was gone.  
  
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Dream: Ok, before you say it, NO! THERE WILL BE NO JET/FAYE IN THIS STORY!!  
  
Spike: Yah, if there's anything it'll be SPIKE/Faye!  
  
Dream: *hits head on computer desk* Shut it Spike! I'm not SURE where this is going! What makes you think that there'll be any romance at all?  
  
Spike: Well you're not going to let Obsession get me are you?!  
  
Dream: *strokes chin* I had considered it . . .  
  
Spike: *jaw drop* YOU WOULDN'T!  
  
Obsession: *poofs in in chibi form* SPIIIIIKE! *runs at Spike*  
  
Spike: Holy God, Holy Jeebus, Holy Crap, NOOOOO! *runs away*  
  
Dream: Greeeat, now I have to go catch him! See ya'll when I write the next chapter! ^_^  
  
~*~ In *Dream*s, I disappear to where no one can find me . . . ~*~ 


	6. Male Psycy, 10 through 12 PM

Hello again! I'm back with my next chapter! Yey-ness!! Ha-ppy New Year! Anyway, thanks again to the people who have reviewed this story, it's true that the reviews help the writer, they've kept me going! Special thanks to Deathdragon and Randall Flagg2, luvv you guys!! ^_^ So yah, here's the next chapter!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Cowboy Bebop!  
  
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"Damn it! He got away AGAIN!" Spike yelled as he slammed his fist into the living room table and leaving a visible dent. After Obsession had run away, Spike had gone searching all through the rooms on that floor; Jet had stayed behind because Faye was still visibly shaken. Spike'd returned after finding nothing, "Where'd that bastard get to?!"  
  
"Now c'mon everybody, clam down," Jet said, motioning for Spike to sit down on the couch. "This is no time to loose our heads."  
  
"Calm down? JET! FAYE JUST GOT ATTACKED!" Spike screamed, pointing to Faye who was sitting on the chair hugging her knees to herself. "And now we can't even find this guy! This is no time to b-"  
  
"Don't you think I realize that?!" Jet yelled back, pushing Spike onto the couch. "But you can't let that affect your judgment!"  
  
"Bu-"  
  
"No buts!" Jet yelled as Spike tried to defend himself. "Don't you understand that Obsession is after you? This is all part of his plan to draw you out! To get you alone and not thinking clearly!"  
  
"I can handle Obsession," Spike retorted, "after what he did to Faye I can handle anything that he throws at me!"  
  
"Jet's right." Faye said out of the blue. Spike and Jet both immediately turned to her both looking a little shocked. She hadn't said anything since the attack and she'd stopped crying pretty quickly too. She'd just sat there like some soulless shell shaking all over. "Obsession wants to draw you out, the only reason he attacked me was because I was an obstacle that he wanted to get rid of. His focus hasn't shifted from you to me; you're forever on his mind."  
  
"Well that's comforting," Spike shot out angrily, crossing his arms and slouching like a moody teenager.  
  
"It wasn't meant to be, it's just a fact that YOU of all people should be aware of." Faye said, glaring at Spike.  
  
"As long as he's on this ship, he'll never stop hunting you. He won't stop trying to kill Faye either to get her out of the way," Jet said sitting down. "We have to think rationally about how to get him off the Bebop."  
  
"So that's it," Spike said, sitting up and looking at Jet.  
  
"So what's it?"  
  
"Why you can be all calm and tranquil. You think that Obsession's only after Faye and me? Oh no, he's after everyone. He's after Faye because he thinks that she's competition, but now he'll be after you too. You protected Faye and I'm betting that he won't be too happy about that beating that you gave him." Spike said staring at Jet and waiting for his reaction.  
  
"I do know that," Jet said, "and that's why I have to be that calming force behind this."  
  
"You be calm, I'm not going to sit around waiting for death to come. This is not the way I'm going down!" Spike jumped up off the couch and ran out into the hallway.  
  
"No Spike, come back!" Faye yelled after him, standing up and getting ready to run after him.  
  
"Let him go." Jet said, his eyes fixed on the spot that Spike had stood moments before. "He's got his own way of dealing with stuff and we should respect that."  
  
"But he could die!" Faye said, but after a few seconds she added, "But then again you're probably right, you know Spike better then I do."  
  
"And I know that Spike won't let this kill him," Jet said, crossing his arms and sitting back. "He won't let anything kill him until his spirit is broken."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Spike walked angrily down the hallway, his eyes set, his fists clenching and unclenching, his footsteps falling heavily on the metal floor. Every step that he took caused an echo that bounced hauntingly off the walls. He knew the risks of this, he knew that Obsession was probably following his every step, and that's just what he wanted. He was baiting Obsession. "Come out, come out, wherever you are," Spike thought to himself. "C'mon, there's no one to stop you or beat you up, nothing but little old' me!" He stopped and glanced over his shoulder, nothing but an empty hallway. He turned his head back forward and squinted into the darkness ahead of him, still nothing. "Damn it!" Spike whispered. He was ready, he was alert, and nothing could take him down now. But of course, whenever you're ready to face the enemy, the enemy goes on stealth.  
  
He continued walking, this time not as angrily and with his hands stuck loosely in his pockets. He began thinking about the "discussion" that he'd had with Jet and Faye before he stormed off. Those guys were right; this was no time for brashness and hot-headed behavior. He'd convinced himself that that wasn't how he was acting, that he was being logical and taking the initiative to stop a murder before it happened. "Heh, I'm such an idiot," Spike said with a small chuckle that gave the same ghostly echo. Plus that adrenaline rush that he'd been on wouldn't have been the best mix with his fighting style; he was supposed to be the calm one! He smiled at his own rashness and turned around to go back to the living room when he felt it, a gust of cool air straight on the back of his neck.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
After taking a glance at the clock, Jet had decided to get some kind of food cooked for that days' meal. It had been almost an hour since Spike had gone away on his little fit huffing and puffing like the Big Bad Wolf, and he figured that after Spike calmed down a little bit he would come back to the living room and he would probably be hungry. Faye was in the kitchen with him, having taken back up her unusual silence, the silence that seemed to have come over the entire ship. Even its usual creaks and bumps that you could set your watch by seemed to have quieted down. While he enjoyed it every now and then, this silence was becoming too much for him, the paranoia, jumping at every sound, he couldn't stand it!  
  
"So what do you think?" Jet asked, turning to Faye with a frying pan in one had and waving the smell in her direction with the other. "Edible?" Faye sniffed at the air slightly but only shrugged. "That's the fifth time I've tried to start a conversation with that girl," Jet thought to himself, setting the frying pan back on the stove and giving its contents a few stirs. "I wouldn't think she could keep silent for this long. It's kind of scary." Jet turned off the heat to the stove and was just about to walk out of the kitchen when Faye spoke.  
  
"What did you mean?" she asked in a quiet voice, sitting up on the counter and swinging her leg slightly.  
  
"You mean when I asked if the food was edible?" Jet asked back jokingly, taking off his white apron and tossing it on the ground.  
  
"When you said that Spike wouldn't let this kill him, that he wouldn't let anything kill him until his spirit was broken." Faye said looking up.  
  
"Well, we both know that Spike can be a complicated guy sometimes," Jet said, leaning against the counter opposite Faye. "I mean he can be cool as a cucumber one day, but then be cussing like a Red Necks mother the next, going from gentleman to jerk in a few seconds. But that's the way that he is, that's his personality and his spirit. He's developed that egotistical attitude over the years and he's not going to let anything bring him down as long as he has that 'I'm the Man' thing going for him."  
  
"I'm not really following your logic Jet," Faye said, her brow becoming knitted and her eyes focused on the ground.  
  
"Oh," Jet said with a small smile, scratching at his chin. "I guess that I can ramble a little. To put it plain and short, Spike won't quit until he's beat. When someone proves to him that he's not top-of-the-world stuff, he'll let himself go."  
  
"But Spike's been beaten before, lots of times," Faye said, still focusing on her spot on the floor with a piercing stare.  
  
"He's been beaten, yes, but never bettered," Jet said with a small nod. "Every time that he's lost a fight, he's always come up with some explanation to where the outcome was his fault, that he'd slipped up somewhere along the line. Only when someone comes along who can beat Spike at his best and prove that they can take on what he takes on every day ten- fold will he finally rest."  
  
"Now I get it," Faye said, looking up at Jet. "So you don't think that Obsession is that wonder man who can defeat Spike the Magnificent."  
  
"Definitely not, if I could beat him then Spike can beat him." Jet said, but then added as a thought to himself, "I hope." Faye gave a little nod and hopped off the counter. She went over and took a small bit of food out of the pan, sticking it in her mouth and turning to leave.  
  
"Oh, by the way, the answer is 'no'." she said as she walked out of the kitchen.  
  
"'No' is the answer to what Faye?" Jet asked, turning towards her and watching her go.  
  
"No that food is NOT edible," Faye said turning her head back towards the kitchen, taking the chewed chunk of food out of her mouth and tossing it in the garbage. Jet shrugged at Faye's comment and went searching for some plates.  
  
"So what else is new?" he thought.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A shiver went up Spike's spine, causing his head to involuntarily twitch. He turned around, pulling out his gun as he did. He half expected to be met with a pair of maniacal eyes staring at him from the blackness, but again there was nothing there. Spike only now noticed that his breathing was coming in short quick gasps and he hated himself for it. "Pull yourself together Spike," he said to himself, "calmness and light." He began searching for the cause of the breeze to calm his nerves and soon saw an air vent above him. He concluded that the breeze had come from that, though it still didn't explain how it had hit him at the angle that it had on the back of his neck. "You're making yourself into a walking mental case here buddy," he thought to himself.  
  
He turned to go back to the living room when another noise stopped him. It was coming from the dark end of the hallway . . . and it sounded like foot steps. It went from a lighter step to a loud 'thunk' and back again. Spike remembered that Obsession had been beaten up and could possibly have a limp. He began slowly backing up, wishing that he still had some of that adrenaline.  
  
The 'foot steps' grew louder and finally the cause came out into the light. The Bebop had many stowaways; most of them came in the form of rats, so Jet was frequently setting traps at random places on the ship. The noise was nothing but a very unlucky rat; it had gotten both of its legs stuck in a mousetrap. The pitiful figure crawled out into the light, pushing itself forward with its front paws and using whatever lower body strength it had to lift up the mousetrap that had become a permanent part of its bottom half. Spike let out a long breath and stared at the grotesque figure moving towards him. Blood was splattering on the floor whenever it lifted the mousetrap and brought it back down and soaked the rat's fur. The wire hinge had snapped right down before the small animals' hips and it had gone clear through the fur and skin to the bone, the surrounding flesh had been frayed and was now hanging off the useless back legs.  
  
Spike cocked his head to the side; he couldn't believe that he was watching this for so long! "I'm becoming more psycho by the minute," he thought to himself. He lifted the gun that was still in his hand and took careful aim. "I'm dong this for your own good little friend," Spike said just before he pulled the trigger. The bullet hit the rat's head and it virtually exploded, leaving an impressive blood splatter on the ground. "Well now that I have that nonsense over with,' Spike said, yet again turning around to head towards the living room. "Surprisingly that worked up quite an appetite. I wonder if Jet read my mind and figured that I'd be hungry when I got done with my mood." He began walking down the hallway, sticking close to the right side of the wall so he wouldn't have any more scares with the air vents as they were on the left side. He began laughing a little uncontrollably at his own paranoia when out of nowhere something landed oh his shoulder.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Dream: *sits in front of her computer hugging a Spike plushie* Ooooo! What will happen next for our dashing hero?!  
  
Spike: *walks in wearing a 19th century style cloak* Yes, what will happen to ME? *takes haughty pose*  
  
Dream: *pets the plushie's hair* I have reached indecision! I could take the truly evil route of DOOM or I could take the easy route and just get this fic over with.  
  
Spike: Do either of these involve death and destruction?  
  
Dream: *nods vigorously* Uh-huh!  
  
Spike: Which one of them involves me with the whole death and destruction?  
  
Dream: The first one more then the second, HENCE the name.  
  
Spike: *pretends to be deep in thought* Hmmmm...I wonder which one you should write.  
  
Dream: Yes, I know, it is a challenge to decide!  
  
Spike: *gets "Revelation" face* How about you DON'T kill me!  
  
Dream: *strokes chin* We'll see, we'll see!  
  
Spike: What do you mean "we'll see"?  
  
Dream: Until next time folks!  
  
Spike: WHAT DO YOU MEAN "WE'LL SEE"?!?!  
  
The *Dream* Goes On . . . 


	7. Spike's Gift Back, 1 through 3 PM

Hello again everybody! I'm back.again! I actually wrote this chapter relatively fast so I hope that you people still like it! ^_^ But yah, just so you know, some of you may hate me after you read this....does anyone belong to the ASPCA? No one? YES! Ok then, carry on!  
  
Spike: *walks out in his 19th Century cape* Dream does not own Cowboy Bebop! Especially not me all you ladies out there! I'm free and available!  
  
Obsession: *runs out in chibi form and latches onto Spike's leg* Oh Spikey! I'm the only one for you!  
  
Spike: *twitch* GET IT OFF ME! GET IT OFF ME! *runs off* I said I'm free and available LADIES!!  
  
Dream: *sweat drop* Uh, yah, here's the story!  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Spike's legs gave way out of shock and he fell to the floor. He closed his eyes as he hit and felt a weight drop on his chest. "Now look at what you've done you idiot," Spike thought as he opened his eyes. However, instead of finding Obsession, he found Ein on top of him. The little dog couldn't have looked more content with its tongue sticking out and an animated look on his furry face. Spike on the other hand was not amused, looking up at the corgi with a look of complete loathing. His eyes formed into thin slits and his lip even began quivering slightly, baring his teeth. "Get OFF me!" he growled, pushing the dog off him. Ein went flying through the air and hit the opposing wall, yipping when he came into contact. "Stupid dumb ass dog!" Spike yelled at the quivering ball of fur on the ground. Normally Spike would have taken this with minimal good humor, but not today. This stupid mutt had woken him up this morning, failed to protect Faye, and nearly scared him to death! Spike was literally cracking under the stress and without thinking he threw his head back and yelled out, "OBSESSION! I KNOW THAT YOU CAN HEAR ME! You've been following me all over the ship and you're a sick freak! But I'll tell you what, this dog has been a constant interference with your plans right? You kill this dog in whatever way you see fit and I'll give you a special gift for Valentine's Day!"  
  
Ein had gotten up off the floor and was now over by Spike's leg, looking up at him in a very quizzled way. Spike looked down at the little dog with a hate-filled gleam in his eye and an evil smirk on his face. "You better get moving Ein, I'm sure Obsession loves a good chase," Spike said in a voice that was low and cold. Ein if all possible crouched lower to the ground, his ears flat against the side of his head. "Go on Ein, you have a friend waiting." As if Spike had kicked him away, Ein ran down the length of the hallway and turned the corner, the clicks of his claws on the metal floor echoing, and then slowly diminishing. Spike made a small noise by blowing the air of a sigh through his teeth and began walking again, that idiotic dog wouldn't be bothering him for awhile, now maybe he could calm down for a bit.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Ein had been walking around the hallway since, well, he didn't know how long. He'd left as soon as Spike's body guard had started wrestling with Faye. He'd learned even before he came on the Bebop that if people were wrestling, they wanted to be left alone. So now he was biding his own time, chasing rats and cockroaches on the upper decks for entertainment. However, one thing still puzzled him from before. Everybody was looking for Spike's body guard, that's why Faye had sent him out to patrol the hallways for her. So why then, if everyone was looking for the guy, did Faye look so displeased to see him? Ah well, they're humans, Ein wasn't meant to understand them.  
  
It was really dark close to the ground in the maintenance hallways as they were poorly lighted and all of a sudden as Ein stepped forward, the floor wasn't there to support him and he fell through the ground. He landed on something hard that gave way underneath him, but at least it was softer then the ground. He slowly got up to see that it was Spike that he had landed on. Man he was lucky that it hadn't been Faye, she always yelled at his when this sort of thing happened. But not Spike, Spike was his pal! He began panting in a friendly sort of way and contently closed his eyes. He opened them to see Spike looking at him funny and growling, was something wrong with him?  
  
The next thing that Ein knew, he was in the air and hit his back on the wall; he couldn't help but yelp at the pain that shot through his spine. What'd he done? It wasn't his fault the floor had given way underneath him! Spike began yelling something at him that he didn't quite understand, but it was in a very angry tone. He then tilted his head back and yelled something at the ceiling; he seemed to be getting angrier by the minute. Yep, Ein was thoroughly convinced that Spike had gone insane. He moved up to Spike's leg to see if there was anything that he could do to get Spike back to normal, but he just looked down at Ein from his lofty height with a smile on his face that made the hair on Ein's back stand up. He began talking to him in a voice that wasn't like him at all, it was mean and quiet, and what he was saying didn't make much sense either. As obsession was going to apparently be chasing him for some reason that he wasn't quite sure of. Spike didn't loose that look in his eye and it was making Ein nervous. He decided to ditch the idea of trying to make Spike feel better and get away from the crazy person, so he ran down the hallway trying to find a quieter place.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Faye had decided to lounge in the living room for awhile as Jet was well within screaming distance if she needed anything. She was feeling better, less shook up from her ghastly experience then she ever would have expected. She yawned and glanced at her watch, realizing that Big Shot was coming on any second. She quickly turned on the TV just as the main title with the banjo music came on and Punch and Judy came out back to back. Faye gave a very loud yawn, why was this annoying show so addicting?! The shows eccentric hosts finished with their usual introductions and got right to today's "Hot News". "So what do we have for our cowboy viewers today Punch?" Judy said, winking towards the screen in a flirtatious way.  
  
"Well, I'll tell you Judy," Punch said. "You remember that bounty hunter that we honored for catching 'The Tiger' two shows ago?"  
  
"If you mean that dreamy Spike Spiegel, how could I forget?" Judy replied, clasping her hands dramatically by her head and doing a sickeningly false swoon.  
  
"Well, police have recently infiltrated the hide out of one of our oldest and well-known bounties," Punch said, the lights all of a sudden going dark. "The notorious stalked 'Obsession'!" Faye gasped and sat up straight, leaning her head down to the TV screen, would this guy never leave them alone?!  
  
"While that's good news Punch, what does that have to do with Mr. Spiegel?" Judy said, putting her hands on her hips.  
  
"Well, I could just tell you Judy, but I think that I'll show you the video footage that the ISSP released earlier instead!" Punch said, and then leaned down towards the camera. "Warning, these images may shock and disturb some of our viewers!"  
  
With that, the screen went black and then went to the image of a small room with a TV on the far side and a chair right in front of it. It would have looked like a regular room if it wasn't completely covered with pictures of Spike! Faye stared, slightly slack-jawed as the camera turned to show the room in its entirety. In red ink in-between the pictures and over some of them was written the single word "Spike!" over and over again along with a count-down to valentine's day on one of the walls. In a corner two agents in radiation suits were prying apart the floorboards and one retrieved a duffel bag from underneath. The camera came closer as the agent set the duffel bag down and prepared to unzip it. Faye stared transfixed at the bag and held her breath as the agent grabbed the zipper and pulled. Inside, were an infinite number of decapitated heads. Faye let out a small scream of surprise and horror as the agent flipped the bag over, spilling out the heads of a number of women and a few bishonen-ish men.  
  
The screen went black again and Punch and Judy appeared back on the screen, both with looks of shock on their faces. "Well," Punch said with a small uncomfortable laugh. "We know who Spike will be getting a valentine from, eh Judy?" Judy either missed her cue or was too shocked to answer as she just stood there looking confused. Faye slammed her fist down on the TV on/off switch and just stared straight ahead. This was more then she could take! She'd begun running through the images in her head when she heard a screaming voice. She didn't understand what the voice was saying, but she knew it was Spike.  
  
"Oh my god," she whispered and took off running towards the screaming.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Having prepared the food for lunch and gotten everything ready for when Spike came around complaining of hunger pains, Jet took a break to go check on the security cameras. He slowly made his way up to the top deck, yawning as he trudged up the stairs. Surprisingly after all that he'd been through today, he was still close to falling face down on the floor asleep. As he got to the floor, he scanned over the screens quickly, looking for anything unusual. There was nothing out of the ordinary going on, Faye was watching Big Shot in the living room, and most of the other cameras were just wasting power videotaping empty hallways and the daily rituals of rats and dead rats. Jet shuddered as he came across an image of a rat eating another rat that looked as though it had been dead for a few years.  
  
Then he came across a camera that had somehow shut off. Jet clicked his tongue as he began turning knobs on the control panel. The camera that wasn't on was supposed to be videotaping on the floor that was above where Spike was now. Jet looked at the screen with Spike, trying to decipher why he was just standing there. He was standing with his back facing the camera so he couldn't make out his facial expression, but he had his head upturned towards the ceiling. "What the heck is he doing?" Jet thought out loud, still turning knobs. Ein was with his too for a little then all of a sudden he turned tail and ran. "What's going on down there?" Almost as soon as he'd said that, the blank screen blinked an image for a second. Jet began furiously turning the knobs backwards, trying to figure out where the screen had blinked. It fizzled a little bit, and then the picture came in in full black and white. Obsession was looking down through a netted vent in the floor onto Spike with a huge smile on his face. Launching himself off the control panel, Jet sprinted out of the room and towards the floor that Spike was on.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Spike had barley started walking towards the living room when he was hit head-on by two figures. All three of them fell on the ground, Spike unfortunately caught on the bottom. He groaned and began kicking at Jet and Faye, telling them to get off. "What's WRONG with you guys?!" he screamed at both of them after the tackle had been disentangled. Both were looking at Spike with relieved faced and panting as they had both sprinted from their respected areas. "What's gong on?" Faye and Jet tried to tell their stories at once, but Spike couldn't make out a word of it. "Ok! Okokokok!" he said, becoming frustrated as they kept talking. "Faye, for once we'll consider you a lady and say 'Ladies first'."  
  
Faye made a face at him but then began talking, "I was watching Big Shot, and they were telling about how the ISSP had infiltrated Obsession's hide out."  
  
"Oh, that'll make him happy," Spike said with a smirk, leaning against the wall.  
  
"Look, it's not funny! He has this room in his house that's covered with pictures of you and had decapitated heads buried under the floor! It scared me, and then you screamed so I came running." Faye said.  
  
"I screamed?" Spike said partially to himself, and then a smile spread across his face. "Oh yah, I did! But that wasn't anything."  
  
"Why'd you scream?" Jet asked.  
  
"Oh, I was just messing with Ein," Spike said, sticking his hands into his pockets. "I screamed for Obsession to kill him for me." He began giggling softly to himself, but Faye and Jet didn't join in.  
  
"You WHAT?!" Jet yelled at him, coming forward and putting his hands on Spike's shoulders, shaking him slightly.  
  
"What's the big deal? If Obsession was here then he would've attacked me!"  
  
"No, he wouldn't," Faye inserted, "he's waiting until Valentine's Day to do anything."  
  
"Oh, well that doesn't matter," Spike said. "And Jet, will you stop shaking me?! Obsession didn't hear me!"  
  
"Yes, he did!" Jet said, letting go of him after giving him a shove. "He was right above you while you were screaming, he heard every word."  
  
"What? . . ."Spike said, his eyes going wide and his face paling noticeably. He turned to Jet and Faye and with urgency in his voice said, "We gotta find Ein!" He took off running down the hallway in the dogs' tracks, his two comrades following closely.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Ein walked slowly down the hallway a few floors down, his head and ears drooping and his feet sluggish. He'd run as fast as he could away from Spike and only started walking a few minutes ago. What was going on with these people? What was going on with this ship!? Everything was so quiet; Ein had the urge to bark and howl just to bring some noise to the silence. Then all of a sudden, he saw something drop down in front of him in the hallway. This hallway was darker then the others so Ein really couldn't see a thing. He was standing right underneath the only light for about six feet, and he began sniffing wildly at the air. It was the man's scent; it was Spike's body guard! He heard the man coming towards him in the blackness, softly walking and whistling an odd little tune. Ein slowly backed up and the man came forward in to the light. Although instead of his face being serious and cruel, it was now in a gentle smile and his features were close to caring. "C'mere little doggie," the man said, lightly patting his thighs with his hands. Ein slowly walked up to him and sat down looking up at him. The man knelt down next to him and began petting him on the head, stroking the fur on his back. Ein gave a small contented noise and snuggled into the man's leg, rubbing his head on the man's pants. The man gently picked up Ein, standing up from his kneeling position and putting Ein over his shoulder like a father with a baby, Ein's head sticking up panting over his shoulder. The man turned around and slowly walked out of the light, his grip on Ein getting tighter as the light diminished and an evil smile claiming his face. A few minutes later, Ein's howls echoed through the ship. . . . . .  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Dream: *hides behind brick wall holding up an Ein plushie* I come in peace! Really, I do!  
  
Spike: What are we doing behind this wall?  
  
Dream: Stick you head up and find out!  
  
Spike: *sticks his head up and an angry chant begins about animal cruelty, along with flying dog biscuits*  
  
Dream: Geese, if they're mad now, I'm almost afraid to write the next chapter!  
  
Spike: *picks pieces of dog biscuit out of hair* But still, might as well get it over with, right?  
  
Dream: Yah, I guess you're right. We should probably try to calm the protesters though.  
  
Spike: I'll leave that to you. *pops away*  
  
Dream: 0.0 TRAITOR! *mumbles to self* oh he is SO dead at the end of the story!  
  
~*~  
  
The Dream Goes On. . .  
  
Life is but a Dream2 0 0 0 


	8. Stay Little Valentine Stay, 4 through 6 ...

Hello everybody, well, here it is, the next chapter I'm sorry to say. Everyone hold a candle for Ein, for I am afraid he meets his demise in this chapter. I'm sorry, but I felt it necessary for the story. I'm afraid I got a little gruesome with the description, but please don't hate me! Read the chapter and tell me what you think! Although I'd like to dedicate this chapter, I don't want to offend anyone by dedicating a gory chapter to them! So I'll just say thank you to all my fellow fanfiction-ers and my loyal reader! Thank you, thank you, a thousand times thank you!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Cowboy Bebop, and I also don't own the Frank Sinatra song "My Funny Valentine" which is featured in this fic, but I do own the latest sick, super-villain Brad Jacobson, a.k.a. Obsession.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The company was two floors above their starting point when the howls started. Spike stopped mid-step as they reached his ears, his pupils dilated and his mouth slacking as if he'd just been hit over the back of his head with a blunt object. Faye and Jet had been running behind Spike and hadn't heard Ein's howl of pain. Perhaps that was their reason for not slowing down when they saw him stop and running into him, all three of them falling to the ground. "Spike! What the Hell do you think you're doing," Faye yelled from on top of the pile up, "stopping in front of us like that! We have to find Ein!"  
  
"Shhhhh", Spike said, holding up a finger near his lips, his head down next to the floor listening for another call. No more then a second later it came, a sound rooted in suffering, but where was it coming from?!  
  
"Was that Ein?!" Jet asked, concern filling his features mixed with the terror in his voice. "Where's it coming from? Which floor's it on?" A third howl met their ears; this one mixed with a kind of whines that issue from a struck dog. Spike, Jet, and Faye got up off the floor, their heads turning this way and that trying to find the general direction of the sound. They knew it was below them, but was it to their left or right? Was it in a completely different direction on the other side of the ship? They knew their time was running out when a forth howl came from the tortured canine, this one little more then a quiet whine that was barely audible through the steel floors that made up the Bebop.  
  
"He's below us, we know that much," Spike said turning to the other two. "I'll go find him, you two say here or go up to the control deck and check the cameras for Obsession or Ein." He turned and was about to run off when a red finger-nailed hand grabbed his arm, holding him back.  
  
"No way Spike, we're coming with you to find them," Faye said, her emerald eyes meeting Spike's crimson, "find Ein, and you find Obsession. Jet and I aren't going to let you face that maniac alone, not a snowballs' chance in Hell!" (A/N: Aside from being the Bane of Punctuation and the Quote Queen, I'm also the Clique Princess, doncha know! ^_^)  
  
"Listen, we don't have time for this heroic loyalty crap Faye!" Spike said, prying Faye's hand off him. "I'm the faster runner, plain and simple!"  
  
"Bu..", Faye started but Spike was already all the way down the hallway and was heading down one of the floor-connecting steel ladders. "Are we really going to just stand here and let him go off alone?" A low noise came up from the floor, barely recognizable as one of Ein's cries for help.  
  
"What was that you said again, not a snowballs' chance in Hell?" Jet said, and with that sprinted down the hallway to the ladder with Faye beside him. When they got there, they could just barely hear the sound of Spike's foot- falls, he had a big head start.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The low moan that Jet and Faye had heard a moment ago had spurred Spike on, that pitiful noise echoed through his head. "It's my fault; it's all my fault this is happening to you Ein", Spike though to himself, resisting the urge to punch himself in the face or slam his head into one of the walls of the hallway. No, he couldn't do that, he had to find Ein. Ein wouldn't die from this; Spike wouldn't have any more lives on his conscience. Over his years with the Red Dragons he'd lost many a comrade, and he blamed himself for each one of their deaths. He wouldn't allow Ein to be added to his list to hold memorials for! He couldn't believe he was having thoughts like this for a dog..but didn't that dog have a personality, didn't it have a soul?  
  
His breathing was coming at a faster rate when he heard it; it was another moan like before, only this one cut off abruptly. It didn't fade away like the others, it just stopped and then there was silence. However, Spike had gotten one thing from that last noise, he now knew where Ein was, that sound had come from the end of the hallway one floor down. He back- tracked a few feet as fast as he could and slid down the ladder that led to the next floor, not bothering to use the rungs. That sound very easily could've been the bane of him, it was too suspicious. Spike feared what he would find as his feet hit the ground. There were no butterflies in his stomach, there were snakes, countless numbers slithering around inside of him trying to get out, biting him as he walked down the hallway. There was no lighting at the end, so he took out his oil lighter, flicking it on to see into the darkness. As soon as he did, he wished he hadn't, as there dangling in front of him was Ein.  
  
Or at least it looked like Ein, if Ein had been a dark red dog. Every inch of his once brown and white fur had been dyed the hideous color by his own blood. His paws were slack but at odd angles as if they were broken in several places. Ein's underside in the area of the stomach and other such organs was completely devoid of skin and the muscle underneath had been mercilessly slashed open with what looked to have been nothing but bare hands and fingernails. With that gone, the intestines, liver, everything had spilled out and was now hanging mere inches from the ground in a trailing glob. Every once in a while something would slip from sheer gravity and the mass would fall a few centimeters closer to the floor, releasing blood or some other fluid that gave a steady 'drip...drip...drip...'.  
  
The head had remained connected to the body and Spike was a little grateful for that, but only the smallest bit imaginable. The head itself was oddly shaped as if the scull and jaw had been broken and crushed in various places. The mouth was closed as if in a growl, teeth clamped shut, with the tongue sticking out in-between. It was just barely hanging on by a thin strip of flesh and veins. His right eye was hanging limp out of the socket, only connected by the optic nerve, but even that was slowly giving way. All of this was hanging by the neck from the ceiling exactly at Spike's eye level. Ein's corpse had been strung up by a length of his own intestines and it was slowly spinning from counter-clockwise to clockwise as the intestines coiled and uncoiled.  
  
Spike felt a wave of nausea sweep over him as he watched the demented sight slowly turning as if by some imaginary breeze and dropped his lighter to the ground, the flame still burning. He put a hand over his mouth and leaned a hand against the wall trying to steady himself as his legs felt weak. However, just as he placed his hand on the wall, he pulled it away in disgust and grimaced, there was something wet on the walls. He held his hand up cautiously to his face, knowing was on it even before he'd pulled his hand away...blood. He looked around him on the walls, his breathing becoming a staccato melody; quick, jerky, erratic. All around him were splashes of blood, like somebody had thrown a paint-filled water balloon at the wall every few feet. But that wasn't paint on the walls; that was blood from Ein's head. Spike got a sickening image in his mind of Obsession holding Ein by his feet like a rag doll and every few steps swinging out at the walls, bashing Ein's head up against them. It brought to mind a question, were most of Ein's injuries pre or post mortem? Spike didn't want to think about that right now, putting his head in his bloody hand and shaking his head, the nausea still affecting his stomach.  
  
He heard a noise at the end of the hallway opposite Ein and turned his head so fast in that direction that he left a bloody smear on his forehead from his stained hand. It was Jet and Faye coming down the ladder and running towards him. He was so happy to see them, he tried to move towards them, but his legs finally gave way out from under him and he fell face-down on the ground. Faye let out a small shriek and ran to his side, kneeling down beside him. With Jet's help they managed to turn him over so he was looking at both of them and Spike gave a small smile. "About time you guys got here," he thought to himself, eyes shifting from Faye to Jet.  
  
"Oh my God, Jet he's hurt!" Faye said, running a hand over Spike's head where the blood had come off from his hand.  
  
"I'm not hurt idiot," Spike said, trying to sit up but still feeling a bit nauseous, "it's just blood and it's not even mine." He motioned to the bloody smear on the wall that now had his handprint imprinted into it. Jet looked over and let out a gasp as his eyes moved around the walls that the limited light would allow him to see and Faye let out another shriek, but she wasn't looking at the walls. She was looking down towards the dead- end of the hallway, and Spike would've thought she'd seen Ein, except she was looking at the floor. "What is it Faye?" Spike asked, sitting up much to his stomach's complaint and looking at her. Her eyes were squinting and focused on the floor right by where Spike had dropped his still-burning lighter.  
  
"Th-the deed is done," she stuttered out, her eyes slowly widening as they got used to the dark.  
  
"What are you talking about Faye?' Jet asked, his gaze following Faye's until he was looking where she was and his breath caught in his throat. On the ground by the lighter was written a message.  
  
"Spike. The deed is done, Now it's time to pay," Faye read cautiously, "I await your gift, On Valentine's Day." The message was written in blood and small strips of furry skin. Jet just sat there as Faye read the message and then turned his head to Spike.  
  
"Where's Ein?" he said, his voice that fake kind of calm people talk in when they know something bad has happened. Spike picked up the lighter and taking a deep breath, held it above his head. He turned his head away so he wouldn't have to see 'it' again. No more then two seconds later, Faye let out a scream that would be enough to break glass. She then hid her face in Spike's leg, folding her arms over her head as if Ein's corpse would attack her. Jet on the other hand did nothing. He just sat there with a blank face for the longest time and then without warning his features darkened dangerously. His eye twitched as he turned and punched Spike across the face. Spike fell back onto the floor, just looking straight up. He felt Faye being pushed off his leg and Jet getting on top of him, punching him again. "This is all your fault you piece of shit!" he screamed, punching Spike in the jaw with his cybernetic arm. Spike lay there, accepting Jet's abuse, he knew he deserved it. Because of him and his hot temper, Ein was gone, forever.  
  
Jet was about to punch Spike again and Faye was screaming in the background when they heard it. As if over some intercom, a familiar voice singing a song echoed around them.  
  
'Is your figure less then Greek...Is your mouth a little weak...'  
  
Spike recognized that voice, and when he heard it something inside him snapped. He filled with adrenaline and pushed Jet off him, standing up as he did. "Obsession you bastard! I swear if I ever see you I'm going to kill you! You hear me you demented little prick?!"  
  
'When you open it to speak...Are you smart?'  
  
Faye broke down completely on the floor, covering her head and crying.  
  
'But don't change a hair for me, Not if you care for me...'  
  
Now it was Jet's turn to yell. He heaved himself off the ground and screamed, "Get off my ship you asshole! If I catch you again, I will not be satisfied with just beating you up! If Spike doesn't get to you first I'll kill you myself!"  
  
'Stay little valentine stay...Each day is Valentine's Day!'  
  
With that Obsession's song stopped. Spike let out a frustrated scream and hit the wall as hard as he could. As he pulled his fist away, his knuckles began to bleed freely. "Hey, I got enough problems right now without you putting dents in my ship," Jet said, grabbing Spike by the wrist and examining the injured hand.  
  
"Man do you run hot and cold," Spike said, pulling his hand away, "a second ago you were trying to break my face!"  
  
"Can you blame me? But this is no time to be fighting amongst ourselves, with Obsession out there, we have to keep allies when we have them," Jet said with a smile. Spike smiled back and shook his head, rubbing his jaw.  
  
Faye stopped crying and got up off the floor, walking up to Spike and Jet with tears still fresh on her cheeks, "I want off."  
  
"What?" Jet said, clearly shocked by the comment.  
  
"I said I want off this ship. It can be crewed by two people and you guys are always saying you want to get rid of me," Faye said, her hands balling into fists. "So I want off the ship, I don't want to die at the hands of some sick freak!" Jet was about to open his mouth to say something, but Spike got there first.  
  
"Your call," Spike said, putting his arm around Faye's shoulder, leading her off and without a hint of sarcasm saying, "C'mon, I'll help you pack."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
About and hour later, Faye had all her stuff packed into a suitcase and was standing by the hanger door. Jet had already said his goodbyes, saying that if they lived through this Faye could come back to the ship whenever she wanted. Now all that was left was saying goodbye to Spike. She stood there facing the hanger door with Spike next to her. "I'm sorry Spike," she said, "I guess that I'm not as strong as I thought I was."  
  
"I don't blame you," Spike said to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You gotta do what's best for you. Hey, I just rhymed there!" Faye gave a small smile to this; Spike did always manage somehow to add comedy to a serious situation. She turned towards him and hugged him, pressing up against him as she squeezed his chest. Spike stood there unsure of what to do and awkwardly put his arms around her. He rested a hand on her head and messed up her hair a little. "See you soon Faye," he said in a semi-cheerful voice. Faye nodded in agreement as she let go, a faint blush on her cheek for acting so emotional. She picked up her suitcase, smiled, and opened the door to the hanger..and was sucked right through.  
  
All the air began to get sucked out of the hallway and Spike grabbed hold of the doorframe, sticking his head into the hanger. Everything that wasn't held down had been sucked out of the room through a hole large enough for a grown person to crawl through. "Damn you Obsession," Spike thought, looking all around the room for a sign that Faye was still on the ship and not floating through oblivion right now. It was getting harder to breath, so he sped up his eye-skimming search. "FAYE!" he yelled, seeing that she was still hanging onto the door handle for dear life and reaching his hand out. "TAKE MY HAND! QUICK!" She looked up at him and after a moment's hesitation; she reached her hand out and grabbed his. He pulled her in, closing the door as he did. Faye fell over on top of Spike as gravity was suddenly restored. They both lay there panting for a second when Faye finally spoke, "I, I think there's a hole in the hanger."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Spike: *sits in a cage with Dream surrounded by protestors, but waving his arms around like crazy with a gleeful look on his face* YES!!! SPIKE/FAYE! Bwahahahahahahahaha!!!  
  
Dream: *pulls him in as a protestor whacks their sign against the cage* Is that a confession oh ye of the big hair?  
  
Spike: No, are you crazy?! It just means that I am right and you were wrong! You DID put some kind of a pairing in here!  
  
Dream: No I didn't! It was too badly written to be any kind of pairing!  
  
Spike: But!!  
  
Dream: Listen, if you were going away from a loved one for a long time, wouldn't you want to hug them?!  
  
Spike: But that's implying that she loves me!  
  
Dream: *lets out a frustrated roar* You're impossible! Can we focus on the problem at hand here?!  
  
Spike: Yah ok, why are we in this cage?  
  
Dream: Because you left me to deal with animal rights protestors! These guys are brutal! I don't know how we're going to get out!  
  
*chibi form of Obsession pops in*  
  
Chibi Obsession: I can help you out for a price!  
  
Spike: What's the-  
  
Dream: Yah, sure, fine! What's the price?  
  
Chibi Obsession: *pulls out camera* PHOTO OP!  
  
Spike: *sweat drop* NO!  
  
Dream: Yah, ok, fine! *grabs camera* Ok, pose!  
  
*Chibi Obsession jumps into Spike's lap and hugs him, Spike looks like he's going to barf*  
  
Dream: *takes picture* Ok, there, done! Now get us out!  
  
Chibi Obsession: Very well! *transports them away to the Bebop* BYE SPIKE! *leaves*  
  
Spike: I hate you SO much right now, you know that don't you?  
  
Dream: Yah, yah, yah. Ok, this ending is nearly as long as the chapter! Anyway, I'll update soon! You have my solemn oath that this fic WILL be DONE by VALENTINE'S DAY!!!  
  
Spike: Why's that?  
  
Dream: *falls over anime style*  
  
"Remember this day; today...life is good!" 


	9. My Funny Valentine, Sweet Comic Valentin...

Hello again all you people out there! Well, this lovely horror that I've concocted is almost coming to its close, I hope that you have enjoyed it! But then again can anyone truly enjoy horror? I guess that we'll find out together! This is the second to last chapter (?) and I hope that you like it! Everything is in place now..........for possibly the most predictable ending ever! But whatever, I pray you enjoy it none the less! I'd like to thank my inspirations, my dreams that have added to this psychotic story, my muses: Edger Allen Poe, Alfred Hitchcock, and various other horror films, my friend Deathdragon, and my faithful reviewers Randall Flagg2 and Brigidforest for their support! You may ask why I'm giving my thanks now, it's because for the last chapter there will be no intro or ending, just the story so I want to get these out now while they're still fresh in my head! Thank you again to everyone and anyone who is reading this story!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Cowboy Bebop nor do I own the song "My Funny Valentine".  
  
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"Listen, how could you NOT know that a hole had been cut into YOUR ship?!" Spike yelled. As soon as Faye and he had gotten over their experience with the black abyss, they'd run off to go find Jet. They found him clicking away on the top deck. Before he'd even gotten the chance to say "Hey!" to Faye, Spike had broken in with the yelling.  
  
"I don't know ok!" Jet said. "Everything's going crazy on this ship! Just look at this!" He turned around and began typing away on one of the command decks many computers. After a few seconds an outline of the Bebop appeared on the screen, inside the outline, there was a red color about three- fourths filled up. Faye looked at the screen dully with a face that plainly said, "Why is this relevant?"  
  
"What's up with the chart Jet?" Spike said, examining the screen with a knitted brow.  
  
"Ok, the outline represents the Bebop," Jet said, pointing it out on the screen, "and that red color represents all the floors where the sensors have gone completely off-line. I can't get any readings from any of these floors, but just an hour ago I was getting information from the bottom one."  
  
"So what, is there no life support or anything one those floors anymore?" Spike said, tapping at the red space.  
  
"Darned if I know," Jet said, still typing away at the keyboard, "I wouldn't even know if we had gravity on those decks!"  
  
"Well, I haven't seen any of your bonsai floating around, so I guess that's a yes on the gravity," Spike said, "what about the cameras?"  
  
"Most of 'em are still up and running." Faye said. She was standing over by the consol, her eyes scanning each picture quickly but carefully. "A few of them have conked out or just turned off from lack of movement." Spike was just about to say something when Faye gasped and turned her head away, her hand covering her eyes.  
  
"Faye, what is it?" Spike said, coming over to the consol. Faye's shoulders shook a little as she pointed to a camera just below her eye level. It was about five floors down and was taping a random hallway where the lights were dim at the end where a dead-end was. You couldn't see past the last door, but you could see a puddle of dark liquid spilling out into the light. It was the hallway where Ein was still hanging; no one had had the stomach to go near enough to cut him down. Faye took her hand away from her face and breathed deep. She turned back to the cameras, clearly avoiding Ein's screen.  
  
"Hey Jet! Which one of these are the forth floor cameras?" Faye asked, scanning around.  
  
"Those ones, but why do you want to go down there?" Jet said, pointing up to the top row of cameras. Faye strained her neck to closely examine those cameras. She squinted as if looking for some hidden meaning in the images of doorways and empty rooms. Satisfied, she turned to Spike.  
  
"Watch those cameras will ya? I'll be back in about a half an hour," she said and turned to leave.  
  
"Faye, wait! What do you mean? You can't go! We have to stick together! We've got a killer out there!" Jet yelled, using such elaborate hand gestures that he hit the wall at least three times.  
  
"Look, I need to take a shower ok! And I'd prefer it if you weren't in there with me!" Faye said, rounding on Jet, "So I'd appreciate it if you two would be so kind as to watch the cameras and let me know if you see anyone in the hallway. Now then gentlemen, I take my leave of you." She turned around again and began walking out again when Spike spoke up.  
  
"How're we going to contact you? I mean, if we see anyone on the cameras?" Spike said, tilting his head towards the screens.  
  
"I'll leave my cell phone on; it'll be an open com-link ok?" Faye said, pulling out the small metal device.  
  
"Just leave it on, we'll call you if we see anything," Spike said, and turned back to the cameras.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Faye hated to admit it, but she couldn't help the way she was coming to accept everything that had happened in the last twenty four hours. She hated that she was beginning to expect dangers around every corner, or a dead body hanging in a hallway. "Dear God, I must be going mad!" she thought as she headed down the forth floor corridor towards the shower room. The door made a soft whooshing sound as it moved out of her way and she immediately turned her head left and right out of paranoia. She rushed into the room and locked the door behind herself. "Those guys had better be watching those cameras if they know what's good for them!" she grumbled, turning to the mirror and taking off her headband. Her bangs fell into her face in a huge clump, the total lack of grace. She brushed them impatiently away, they blocked out her vision too much. In a burst of vanity, she leaned down close to the mirror and examined her face in detail. She laughed to herself, "You'll be an old woman yet Faye Valentine, just look at those worry lines forming!" She dismissed her scene of silliness with a grin and began getting ready for her shower.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Meanwhile back on the top deck, Spike and Jet were sitting around overcome with boredom. Or at least Spike was. Jet was rushing around this way and that trying to get the lower deck's sensors back online. Unfortunately he wasn't having much luck; it was almost as if the connecting cables had been cut. Spike on the other hand was sitting in one of the swivel chairs that occupied the deck, staring at the ceiling and spinning around in circles. He'd just pushed off into another marvelous seven-twenty when all of a sudden he broke into song. "My funny valentine . . . . Sweet comic valentine . . . . You make me smile with my heart . . . ." he mumbled to himself. He glanced over at Jet who had stopped in the middle of the floor with his head turning.  
  
"It stopped!" he said, his eyes swiveling around suspiciously. He looked comically similar to an iguana.  
  
"Well duh it stopped; I can't remember any more of the words!" Spike said, going back into his spinning.  
  
"That was you? But that was the song that Obsession was singing before wasn't it?" Jet said, going back over to another console.  
  
"Yah, I haven't been able to get it out of my head since," Spike said. He reached out and grabbed the camera screens; that was enough spinning for him.  
  
"What the heck is that song anyway? It's certainly not from this era,' Jet said, giving up the typing and holding his wrist. (A/N: Yes, it's sad but true, Jet has carpel tunnel. ^_^)  
  
"Nah, it's just some song from the early twentieth century, made some guy named Frank Sinatra, (A/N: Whom I don't own either, I LOVE YOU FRANKIE!!), a star," he said, glancing up at the forth floor cameras.  
  
"Man, how do you know all these old songs? First it was that one, No one Nowhere, something Man, and now this?"  
  
"It's called a good upbringing Jet," Spike said, flicking his eyes from screen to screen. Jet rolled his eyes and let out an obvious fake cough with the words "Bull Shit!" not too subtly embedded in it. Spike let out a kind of a bark-laugh and began humming he song again, his eyes cast down. All of a sudden a voice joined in with him.  
  
"Your looks are laughable, unphotographable . . . . Yet you're my favorite work of art!"  
  
"Hey Spike, I thought you said you couldn't remember the rest of the words," Jet said with a joking tone.  
  
"That . . . . wasn't me." Spike said. His head immediately shot up and he let out a loud gasp. Jet ran over to him and let out the same reaction. Both men's eyes were fixed on one screen, the fifth floor corridor camera. Right in the middle of the hallway stood Obsession with a huge smile on his face. He'd cut down Ein from the ceiling and was holding him like a baby. He grabbed the corpse's right paw and began to wave it at the camera, his voice coming into the control room.  
  
"Wave to the camera doggie," Obsession said, letting Ein's paw drop with unnatural limpness as all of the bones were shattered inside, and waving himself, "your bastard father who tried to beat me up is up there with Spikey! Say hi!" All of a sudden his smile disappeared and he began barking like a dog, almost exactly matching Ein's former volume and tone.  
  
"Monstrous." Jet whispered as he watched. Obsession stopped his waving and barking and tilted one side of his head towards the floor above him. A slow smile spread across his face.  
  
"Will you listen to that doggie? It sounds like someone taking a shower!" Obsession said, turning Ein's head towards him, causing the little corgi's tongue to finally come loose from his mouth. "Why it must be your mummy up there getting all clean for me! What a little hoar!" With that Obsession chucked Ein's corpse over his shoulder, hurling it back into the darkness where it fell unseen with a variety of cracks at different volumes. He gave another small wave at the camera complete with a wink and sprinted out of the camera's range.  
  
"Oh my God, we have to save her!" Jet said, heading towards the door. Spike made a move to follow when Jet turned around and stuck a hand out to Spike's chest.  
  
"What're you doing?! We gotta go find Obsession and stop him!" Spike said, pushing up against Jet's hand.  
  
"No Spike, you have to stay here!" Jet said, pushing Spike back. "To hell I do, I'm not staying here while you go out risking your life!"  
  
"Listen, one of us has to call Faye to let her know that Obsession's coming so she can get out of there!"  
  
"Then you call her and I'll meet you down there!" Spike said, again trying to push past Jet's hand.  
  
"No Spike, I've got a bigger bone to pick with this guy." Jet said, and before Spike could reply Jet hurled his cell phone at him. "Call Faye." With that he ran out the door. Spike let out a frustrated growl, "CRAP!" He quickly dialed Faye's number and waited for Faye to pick up, standing in front of the screens looking for Obsession. Faye's phone rang and rang but with no response. "Damn it girl! PICK UP THE FREAKIN' PHONE!" All of a sudden the phone picked up and a clear "HE-" was heard before it was turned off. Spike's breath caught in his throat and he sprinted out the door.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The hot water felt so good against Faye's skin, it was as if it was steaming away all her troubles. She smiled and shook her head, spraying water droplets from her hair tips. All of a sudden, her cell phone began ringing. "Damn it, where did I leave that thing?" Faye thought momentarily before remembering it was still in her jacket. She shut off the water reluctantly and opened up the shower curtain, only to find Obsession standing there by her clothes holding her cell phone. Her eyes went wide as he softly chuckled, "Hello Sweetheart."  
  
"Please . . . . . please just leave me alone, I promise that I'm not going after Spike! I swear! I don't even like the guy!" Faye said, backing up back into the shower, too scared to make any attempt to cover up her nudity. Obsession just shook his head, clicking his tongue lightly. The cell phone kept ringing and Obsession looked at the small screen for the caller ID.  
  
"Why I believe it's your beloved Spike. As one last pity to the slut about to meet her fate, I'll let you talk to him one last time. Talk loud now; it's a long way from you to me!" With that he clicked the answer button, and Faye screamed at the top of her lungs. However, she couldn't even get out "HELP!" before Obsession hung up.  
  
"You bastard . . . ." Faye said, backing up against the wall, "that's all the time I get?"  
  
"Don't you know? Whores don't get a second chance!"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Jet finally made it to the shower room, only he couldn't hear the shower running anymore. Jet breathed a sigh of relief; Spike had managed to get her out before Obsession came. Now all that was left for him was to wait for the son of a bitch. He opened up the door and stepped inside. It was pitch-black inside and as the door closed, Jet turned on the light. The sight that met his eyes made him scream out in terror, backing up as he did. All of a sudden, something grabbed his cybernetic arm and he was punched across the face.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Spike made it down to the shower room completely out of breath, panting like a shaggy dog in summer time. He went over to the door and pulled out his gun, no surprises this time. He put his finger lightly on the trigger and reached for the handle. However, just as he was about to grab it, the door opened. A tall, brown haired man leaped out at him, pushing him against the wall and pressing his lips down on Spikes. Spike was numbed completely by shock as the man tried to break through his lips with his tongue and dropped his gun. Getting a hold of himself, Spike managed a well- placed knee to the groin and the men released him, doubling over. "Obsession." Spike hissed. All of a sudden, Obsession began to laugh childishly to himself. "What's so funny freak?!"  
  
"Oh darling, you're absolutely right! We have the ship all to ourselves now, but we must be patient, it's not Valentine's yet!"  
  
"What did you do to Jet and Faye?!" Spike screamed, jumping at Obsession. However, Obsession was prepared and flipped the tackle so he was pinning Spike.  
  
"We must be patient love, wait for the opportune time." Spike struggled wildly as Obsession put a cloth over his mouth. He knew that smell, morphine! . . . . . Within seconds he was knocked out.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Dream: Well, okay folks! The next chapter is the last one. (?) I again hope that you have enjoyed yourself!  
  
Spike: Even though she's going to KILL ME!  
  
Dream: Hey! I never said that I was going to do that!  
  
Spike: You're kidding; I can see it in your eyes! *points to eyes with psycho look*  
  
Dream: Aaaaaanyway folks, I'm sorry but I won't be able to get the next chapter up by.....well, today or tomorrow depending on when I post this, but I won't have it up by Valentine's Day! *tilts head to sky shaking fist* DAMN YOU HIGH SCHOOL!!!!! I hate it! I have to go to bed at 9 again! I haven't gone to bed that early since elementary school!! _ Whatever, next chapter coming soon!!!! ^_^  
  
Spike: No it's not.  
  
Dream: YES IT IS! 


	10. Each Day is Valentine's Day, 10 through ...

My Funny Valentine: Chapter 10 . . . . . "Each day is Valentine's Day"  
  
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Spike slowly willed himself into consciousness. His body felt heavy and his stomach was acting up. He felt stomach acid building up in his throat and he tried to reach his hand up to cover his mouth but found that he couldn't. His hands were bound tightly behind his back. Cold sweat broke out in droplets on his forehead, where the hell was he anyway? It was then that everything came back to him; Ein's corpse flying through the air, his telephone call to Faye, Jet running off, and Obsession . . . . . looking down on him and smiling. Clenching his eyes shut, he forced himself not to throw up as he thought of it. Then he heard some sort of noise, a click, in front of him and he opened his eyes. He was up on the control deck, tied to one of the chairs and placed in front of the camera screens. All of the other screens were off except for one, and the light from it cast an eerie glow onto Spike. He turned his head from left to right, trying to see anything else. The room was pitch black, and the darkness seemed to fold around Spike, blocking his eyesight completely. He called out, begging for someone to hear him, when his ears picked up a voice.  
  
At first it was some sort of a low mumbling and muttering but it was soon audible. "Spike? Spike? Are you awake now?" the voice asked. Spike's breath caught in his throat, it was Faye! But why did her voice sound so raspy? "You are awake! That's wonderful! Now then Spike, you must listen to me. I'm your friend and I know what's best for you, I think that you should give this Obsession guy a chance." Spike couldn't believe that he was hearing this!  
  
"Faye, have you gone completely insane?!" Spike yelled over his shoulder, trying to see where Faye was talking from. "Obsession is after you as much as he's after me!"  
  
"Everyone has their small faults Spike, doesn't what he's done just prove how much he loves you? He's willing to kill or be killed to get you Spike," Faye said, her voice calm and caring.  
  
"You're crazy Faye," Spike said, shaking his head with gritted teeth. "Those aren't signs of love or affection; those are signs of a mental disorder."  
  
"You're wrong Spike," a male voice said on the other side of him.  
  
"Jet? Don't tell me that you're in on this too! What's gotten into you guys? Where's Obsession?" Spike yelled over his shoulder.  
  
"He's here Spike, he's right here with us. He hasn't left your side for hours, don't worry." Faye said, her voice sounding falsely comforting, like a raspy lullaby. Spike closed his eyes tight and he began struggling against his bonds.  
  
"What do you mean 'don't worry'?! If that freak is here, untie me!" Spike screamed, turning this way and that in the chair. As he made one more frantic turn to the left, he felt hair brush past his face, and smelled a sharp odor in the air. He stopped his panicking cold.  
  
"He's not a freak Spike, he loves you more then anything else in the galaxy. You don't know how much." Faye's voice whispered in his ear, sending shivers through his body. He kept his eyes closed as he felt himself being turned back towards the screens, what was happening here?  
  
"Spike, open your eyes, we have something to show you," Jet's voice commanded. Spike took a few breaths and lifted his head to the screen. It was still blank and Spike was about to turn his head back and ask Jet what was going on when Jet spoke again. "Just look at the screen Spike, this is how much he loves you." Spike heard a kind of sizzling noise in front of him and turned his head back to the screen. Black and white specks were having a battle for control across the screen when all of a sudden black won out. It stayed black for a few seconds, the Obsession's image suddenly popped up on the screen.  
  
His eyes were maniacal and a smile was plastered on his face. His head was illuminated from underneath by a light with lines criss-crossed all over it and then the camera turned to Obsession's viewpoint. He was looking down into the shower -room bathroom that Faye had been in before. He squinted at the screen as somebody came through the door, it was Faye.  
  
"What's happening? What's going on?!" Spike said, as he watched Faye strip through the vent.  
  
"Shhhh, just watch," Faye said, her hair brushing by his face again, but Spike didn't pay any attention to the sensation. He was too busy trying to figure out why he was watching a video of Faye . . . . and why Faye wasn't slapping him across the face for doing so. He watched the screen for maybe five more minutes as she got into the shower and was behind the curtain for the rest of the time. The repetitive sound of the water hitting the shower floor had him in some kind of trance, but he was soon brought out of it. From the corner of the screen, Spike saw Obsession enter the room ever so quietly. Faye didn't even know that he was there, he snuck so quietly. For maybe two more minutes Faye continued with her shower and Obsession took up a casual stance by her clothes. Obsession had his back to the screen so Spike couldn't see what was going on with Obsession's facial expression, but he imagined it was something like a stone face carved into an expression of malice.  
  
Then he heard it, Faye's cell phone began to ring. "Oh shit . . ." Spike breathed; his phone call with Faye! He was watching what had happed then! He heard Faye groan with irritation as she heard the phone ring and slowly turned the water off. She grabbed the side of the curtain and it became like one of those slow motion scenes in a movie for Spike. "Don't do it, don't do it", he whispered to himself and at the screen as if it would somehow alter what had obviously already happened. Faye opened the shower curtain all the way and froze as she saw Obsession standing there. Spike heard a small chuckle come through the screen and a mocking "Hello Sweetheart". "Don't just stand there you idiot run!" Spike scolded at the screen.  
  
"Do you honestly think that it would have helped?" Jet's voice whispered into Spike's ear from the side opposite Faye. Spike made a move to turn his head towards Jet to tell him off but a hand grabbed his head by his hair and kept him steady. He heard something drop to the ground behind him with a "thunk", but he only thought on it momentarily as he looked back on the screen. Obsession was now talking to Faye, saying something about her talking to him, Spike, one last time. He heard the "talk" button being clicked on the phone and Faye screamed out "HELP!", but Obsession had turned off the cell phone.  
  
"Faye, why are you guys showing me this" Spike asked cautiously, watching the screen but trying to block out the sounds. Spike felt the hand let go of his hair, and heard whatever had dropped to the ground being picked up. Faye was certainly taking her sweet time with the answer, but finally she talked.  
  
"I told you Spike, this is to show you how much Obsession loves you, to demonstrate what he's willing to do for you", Faye's voice replied very calmly as Spike focused his full attention back on the screen. He tuned back into the video just in time to hear Obsession roar something about whores not getting second chances. He gasped as Faye finally tried to run to the door, but Obsession stepped in her way.  
  
"Going somewhere m'dear?" Obsession questioned, mocking innocence.  
  
"Let me go, please let me go!" Faye pleaded, and Spike knew that she was truly scared. Faye had never been one to beg for her life, only money. "I promise you, I'll leave the ship right now, I'll never come back here or near you or Spike!"  
  
"Ah, but I do want you around," Obsession said with a bright smile, "we just have to clean you up a little first! Get rid of a few things, starting with that horrible body!" Obsession's eyes bulged insanely as he grabbed Faye by her arm and pulled out a carving knife with the other, the kind that's so sharp that it doesn't need teeth.  
  
"Let me go you psychotic bastard!" Faye screamed, pulling at her arm and trying desperately to get away. Spike winced openly, knowing that that wouldn't go over well with Obsession.  
  
"Oh, but you're the one holding onto me darling," Obsession said, though obviously still holding onto her arm with a death grip, "and I only cleaned this jacket yesterday (he lifted the knife high above his head) I'm afraid now that it'll have to be cleaned again after you've had your filth hands on it, (he brought down the knife clean through her arm, no doubt severing all the veins there-in) Such a shame." Faye made a move to scream as Obsession let go of her arm and shoved him away from her, puling out the knife as he did. Faye stumbled, tears coming out of her eyes, too shocked to react as she sprayed blood all around the bathroom. "Now dear, you're making a mess, and you know how I like to keep things tidy", Obsession yelled as he charged at her with his knife raised again. Spike could only look on in horror as Obsession plunged the knife right through Faye's breastplate before she even had a chance to scream. He pulled out the knife and continued stabbing her over and over again, but her face never changed from that shocked expression that it had died in.  
  
Spike sat there gaping at the spectacle that was on the screen, his breathing in gasps. Then all of a sudden Obsession stopped his rabid stabbing and looked over at the door. He pulled something out of his jacket pocket as he got up, went over to the door, and shut off the light. Spike, thinking that the video was over, lowered his head because he felt that he was going to throw up again. However something grabbed hold of his hair again and yet again he heard the noise of something dropping to the ground. Spike was forced to look at the screen for two more minutes when all of a sudden the door opened to the now darkened bathroom. Spike squinted at the silhouette and nearly cussed, it was Jet. He walked into the room and shut the door behind him, only turning on the lights after the door was fully closed, and the mangled Faye came into view once more. Jet let out a scream that made him on the verge of a voice crack and backed up towards the door, where Obsession was lying in wait. He grabbed Jet's cybernetic arm and punched him across the face. Jet stumbled, loosing his balance for a few precious seconds, but that was all that Obsession needed to strike. He dodged over behind Jet and strung out a piece of wire that he had taken out of his jacket earlier between his hands. Before Jet had a chance to scream again, Obsession wrapped the wire around his neck and tightened.  
  
Jet struggled, stretching out the tendons in his neck, trying to break the wire, but it was no use. He fell to his knees, still struggling and clawing at his neck. Obsession stood over him, his arms shaking from holding the wire taught against Jet's struggle. "Payback's a bitch eh Jet?" Obsession snickered as a gurgling sound began to issue from Jet's throat. By now, Obsession and Jet were the closest they could be to the camera without being right next to it and Spike could clearly see the veins popping up all around Jet's face and neck. Then all of a sudden, Jet's eyes popped open and the blood vessels in them popped. Jet stared into space for a few seconds with eyes that were completely red, the Obsession dropped the cord and h fell to the ground. Obsession turned to the camera, a child-like look of complete content on his face as he waved to the camera and said in a cheery voice, "See you later hun!"  
  
Spike was shaking and barely breathing now as if he was the one being choked. While in the middle of watching Jet die it had occurred to him that before that . . . . that had been Faye dying. But both she and Jet were talking to him right now . . . weren't they? Spike slowly turned his head towards Faye, or at least where Faye's voice had been coming from. He nearly fainted at the sight that he saw there. Faye's head had been completely severed from her body, a small stud of the spine sticking through the bottom of her neck. The separation had been sloppily done and there were ragged bits of skin hanging off of it. Her expression had been changed to that of a stoner, only her eyes had rolled back into her head and fogged over so they were now completely white. Two lines had been attached to her head, one in the back that ran under the flesh and came out in a huge knot and the other one ran through her head and her mouth and came out and knotted in-between her jaw bone. The other ends of both of the lines were attached to a small piece of wood so that the head could be controlled like some kind of macabre marionette.  
  
Spike felt another wave of nausea sweep over him and he made the mistake of turning his head completely the other way where he came face to face with Jet, or at least part of Jet. Jet's head was done up in the same puppet style way as Faye's only the string through the back of the head was much more obvious with Jet's almost disappearing hairline. Jet's eyes were rolled back and fogged over as well, however since all the veins in his eyes had popped, instead of white the eyes were a disgusting shade of pumpernickel. Now Spike knew that he was going to throw up! He leaned his head forward and went into a dizzy spell. He threw up all over the floor and then passed out.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Spike awoke with his head between his legs and someone both stroking his hair and putting feather-light kisses on his neck. He immediately shot up into a sitting position, sending Obsession off balance behind him. Spike shook his head quickly, trying to clear his blurred vision. His head felt heavy and blood was pounding by his temples. How long had he been out for? All of a sudden Obsession appeared before him, smiling brightly and putting his hands on Spike's knees as he leaned in towards Spike's face. "I never dreamed that that would be enough to wake you up Sleeping Beauty," Obsession cooed, his face coming ever closer, "I thought that people like you were only awakened by a kiss on the mouth!" (A/N: ACK! Going too far! Ending THAT now!)  
  
"Get away from me you fruit!" Spike spat, kicking off from Obsession's legs and wheeling back as far as he could. Obsession looked both hurt and furious for a few moments but then crossed his arms, shaking his head with a good hearted (A/N: *cough* BS! *cough*) smile on his face and chuckling to himself. "You always seem to do that when you've done something that pisses me off, what's so funny jerk?!"  
  
"You're just always here to keep me by my code Spike, that's all," Obsession said, walking over towards Spike, who was trying frantically to roll away some more, finding that he was up against a console and couldn't, "There's still a good hour and a half 'til Valentine's Day and if you can wait that long, I can match that!"  
  
"What do you mean, 'I can wait that long'? Wait for what?!" Spike yelled as Obsession came over and kneeled beside him. "What happens on Valentine's Day?"  
  
"Oh Spike, there's no need to yell, I'm right here," Obsession said soothingly, stroking the side of Spike's face, "and how can you not know about Valentine's Day? It's the day that couples show how they really feel about each other; it's a day of happiness and love!"  
  
"That much I know. So then why are you so excited about it?" Spike said, leaning his head to the side so that Obsession couldn't touch his face anymore.  
  
"Oh Spike, on that glorious day I'll be able to show you just how I feel about you and how much I love you in every way, shape, and form," Obsession said, standing up and sitting on Spike's lap, wrapping his arms around Spike's shoulders, "and you'll be able to drop this hostile façade that you have propped up to the world and show just how you feel about me! There's no one to judge us here, it's just the two of us!"  
  
"Show how I really feel about you?" Spike growled, turning his shoulders and trying to wriggle free of the other man's grasp, "You're the one person that I could never forgive, my hate for you goes deeper then damnation. I want to see you roasted in the lowest pit of hell!" Obsession seemed completely unfazed by this information; he just sat there staring into Spike's eyes. Then a slow smile spread across his lips.  
  
"I know that you're just saying that because I'm a man, it's your first time feeling emotions like this for a person of the same gender. I felt like that too my first time, killed poor Jake before I could even get to really explore my love. But I've learned over the past few years," Obsession said brightly, "I can help you to explore new ends of your sexuality."  
  
"You're a sick murderer and a fag, get off me!" Spike yelled, struggling against his bounds along with trying to get Obsession off his lap. What the heck was this guy on? Spike, have feelings for him? Obsession should've killed the one who gave him that dud information instead of killing off his friends and comrades. Obsession finally seemed to get the message that Spike wasn't in the mood when he head-butted Obsession in the mouth with his forehead.  
  
"Very well then love, since you insist on being a spoil sport I'll leave you alone, but don't worry, I'll be back before midnight so we can count down to Valentine's Day together!" Obsession said, his expression showing that he was more then a little pissed off at Spike's attitude.  
  
"You do that," Spike said as he watched Obsession walk down the stairs from the command deck. After he was gone, Spike hung his head low, he felt so dirty right now, mean he wanted a shower! "What the hell will that freak do to me after midnight?" Spike thought to himself, but decided against it as image upon image popped into his head that he could have lived a very happy life without ever seeing. He had to find some way out, he had to escape. He tried to free his hands again, but they were tied behind him in some ancient handcuffs, and they were too small for him to squeeze his hands out of without stripping his hands of all flesh and muscle. For the first time in a long time Spike felt utterly defeated and was on the verge of crying. His head was hanging very low and somehow even with all the possibilities of what could happen to him; he managed to fall asleep with small tears trickling down his face.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
About forty-five minutes later Spike was awoken by someone pulling on his chains and muttering to themselves. As he slowly slipped back into consciousness he realized that it was a very defined woman's voice and his hopes raised for one millisecond. But that hands that were feeling at the chains and his hands, he knew those rough hands that had been touching his face. It was Obsession again trying to play a trick on him. "Whatever happened to leaving me alone until Valentine's Day?" Spike thought to himself. He couldn't' help but listen to the mumbling though as there was nothing better to do.  
  
"Damn it, he must have thrown the key to these things out somewhere . . ." Obsession was saying to himself.  
  
"Oh, so you were planning on making my magical first moment with a man in a chair? That's not very nice now is it", Spike blurted out before he could stop himself.  
  
"So you're awake huh," Obsession's new girly voice asked, "then maybe you can help me find the keys to these handcuffs."  
  
"And just why would I want to do that pray tell?" Spike said, becoming bored with this little game that Obsession played with imitation, it was really getting old.  
  
"So that I can get you out of this chair obviously", Obsession's voice said, as if it was absurd that there could be any other reason in the world that he would be talking to him.  
  
"Well then, I'd have to decline. I'd like to keep my anus orifice as far away from you as possible", Spike said, snuggling into his chair as if it was the most comfortable thing in the world.  
  
"Don't flatter yourself, I don't think of you that way, Obsession does", the girlish voice said matter-o-fact-ily.  
  
"And remind me again who I'm talking to", Spike said, his voice going high with sarcasm.  
  
"My name's Jackalyne, I'm . . . I was Brad's . . . .Obsession's fiancé, but I made the mistake of trying to leave him and he killed me", Obsession's girly voice said, in a grievous-sounding voice. However, Spike wasn't buying this for a second. Obsession could've been a cartoon audio actor with his range of voices. How did he know that this one wasn't a fake?  
  
"Well excuse me if I don't believe you Jackalyne, but you chose the wrong body to inhabit for this little 'Crossing Over' experience, he's not exactly the most trustworthy guy", Spike said.  
  
"I know, and I don't blame you for not believing me," Jackalyne said, "but Obsession will be back any time now and we have to get you out of here before he does! I've sat back and watched his killing for far too long. I'm not going to let him get you too." All of a sudden, Obsession's hand reached around Spike's neck and he nearly let out a yelp. However, the hand just grabbed a chain around Spike's neck that he didn't remember putting there and pulled, breaking the clasp. "Still a creature of habit, eh Brad?" Jackalyne's voice said from behind him, "he's done this exact same trick with the last six guys, hiding the keys like that." In a few seconds Spike heard a click behind him and felt his hands go free. He heard Obsession get up behind him and braced himself for the assault that he knew was coming. However, when Obsession came around his face was incredibly different, it seemed to have less lines or something but the change was miraculous. He grabbed Spike by the collar and hauled him to his feet. "C'mon," Jackalyne's voice came from Obsession's mouth, "we haven't got much time!"  
  
Spike stumbled as Obsession pushed past him over to the staircase and stopped at the top, "C'mon, what're you waiting for?" Jackalyne's voice called. Spike walked over suspiciously and Obsession started heading down the stairs. Spike followed from a distance.  
  
"What's with this guy anyway?" Spike asked a few minutes later, does he have DID or something?" (A/N: DID is Dissociative Identity Disorder. I had to do a report on it! ^_^)  
  
"Something like that," Jackalyne's voice chuckled as Obsession looked over his shoulder, "None of us are really sure exactly."  
  
"Oh you mean there's more to the happy little personality colony in Obsession's head besides you?" Spike asked in mock shock.  
  
"Countless numbers", Jackalyne said with a shudder, "countless numbers." Spike felt a fleeting sorrow for Jackalyne, but it was wiped clean as a watch on Obsession's wrist began beeping furiously. Spike gave a curious look but Obsession's face was one of complete horror.  
  
"What is it Jackalyne?" Spike asked, watching the horror on the man's face grow.  
  
"One minute to midnight," Jackalyne said breathlessly, "Run Spike! GO NOW! RUN!"  
  
"But what about you", Spike asked, feeling incredibly stupid for asking.  
  
"I'm a personality, he can't do anything to m-", Jackalyne started, but then her voice dramatically changed. It dropped an octave and then kept dropping. Lines and shadows seemed to come back to the face as Spike looked at it in shock and then all of a sudden it was back, Obsession was back.  
  
"Well Spike, I see that you've been a bad boy and fallen for my fair lady's tricks. But no matter, I'm back for you now and it's almost midnight! Come to me my love", Obsession said, his face alight wit h joy.  
  
"I'll go willingly into a plague infested house before I go to you", Spike spat out before tuning tail and running.  
  
("10 . . . . . . 9 . . . . . . .")  
  
Spike was running as fast as he could, but he could hear Obsession coming up behind him.  
  
("8 . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . .")  
  
Obsession was right behind him but Spike didn't let that slow him down, he put every once of force that he had and every bit of discipline he'd ever leaned into his legs to make them go faster.  
  
("6 . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . .")  
  
In a last attempt Obsession launched himself at Spike's legs, grabbing him around the thighs and tripping him, falling to the ground on top of him.  
  
("4 . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . .")  
  
Spike tried vainly to kick off Obsession from his legs, but to no avail. Obsession wrapped his legs round Spike's legs and moved his arms up to Spike's shoulders trying to pin him down. Spike punched Obsession across the face, leaving a huge red mark and a blood trail coming out of Obsession's mouth, but he just licked it away. "Red is the color of love Spike, and I'm full of it, are you?"  
  
("2 . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . .")  
  
"Like hell I am", Spike screamed, lashing out and elbowing Spike in the jaw. Obsession reacted by reaching into his back pocket and whipping out a small knife. He struck out at Spike, grazing him across the cheek and causing a blood trail to come out similar to the one coming out of Obsession's mouth. Obsession bent down and licked the blood away, a devious smile on his face as he did.  
  
"I beg to differ Spike, we taste exactly the same", Obsession smirked, "you can't hide your true feelings from me!" Spike struggled, trying to roll over and Obsession let him, getting up for a brief second but coming back down on him as he rolled onto him stomach. Obsession lay down on top of him and put his head down by Spike's ear and whispered . . .  
  
("0 . . . . . . . .")  
  
"Happy Valentine's Day."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Well, that's that. It's done! I'm finished . . . . . I think! Anyway, thanks so much to all who reviewed and a special thanks to Randall Flagg2, Brigidforest, Sanima, and of course, Deathdragon! Anyway, hope that you enjoyed this last trip into my insane horrific mind! ^_^ See you space cowboy!  
  
Das Ende 


	11. Each Day is Valentine's Day Part II, Feb...

Dream: WHOA! I can't believe it! I actually got reviews! AND THEY WERE GOOD ONES SO SOON! Yay! (does little happy dance gyrating around and waving arms like some crazy cult member) Apparently, most of you were unhappy with the way that my story ended, so by popular demand I give you a continuum!  
  
Spike: Well, what'd you expect? My public loves me!  
  
Dream: Or maybe they just want to see you die!  
  
Spike: Shut up, haven't you put me through enough already?  
  
Dream: Maybe . . . . . oh yah, and small note to Deathdragon: SPIKE DID NOT GET RAPED IN CHAPTER 10! Anyway, on to the disclaimer, which I realize I didn't put in the last chapter, DON'T SUE ME!  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Cowboy Bebop, any of the related merchandise, or a condo in Tokyo, though I would like to!  
  
My Funny Valentine: Chapter 11 . . . . . "Each Day is Valentine's Day Part 2"  
  
)))))))))))))))))))))))))  
  
"GET THE HELL OFF ME", Spike yelled as Obsession dragged him down the hallway.  
  
When he had been pinned down, Spike had been certain that he would be killed; he had seen the same lust for blood in Obsession's eyes as he had seen many times before. However, Obsession had just smiled after his message had been whispered into Spike's ear and feeling the shiver go down the younger man's back, he had straightened up. Spike had begun more of his mad thrashing; trying in any way possible to escape the fate that he was sure was coming. "I suppose this is what people meant when they said that Karma would be coming back to bite me in the ass", he had thought to himself. It was then that he felt Obsession moving above him and his whole body had gone rigid, bracing itself for whatever was coming. However, he had just felt something cold go around his wrists and then Obsession had gotten up off him.  
  
"C'mon love, up up up," Obsession had said cheerfully, grabbing a fist full of Spike's hair and dragging him to his feet, "we have so much to do and so little time!" Spike had unwillingly gotten to his feet, stumbling as he did as he realized that he also had manacles on his feet, giving him only a short walking stride. Obsession had released Spike's hair after he had regained his balance and hooked his arm around Spike's, leading him down the hallway. "Now we're like a couple," Obsession had sighed, leaning his head on Spike's shoulder, "we can just imagine that this gloomy hallway is some kind of tree-lined street that belongs to just the two of us."  
  
"Oh please", Spike had grumbled, and with that he knocked over Obsession with a heavy shove. He tried to run down the hallway, away from Obsession and his sick ideas, but he had only gotten about twenty paces away before he had tripped over his own feet. "Dammit," Spike had said under his breath as he had tried to get to his feet, but found that the task was too tricky for his time. Obsession had come up behind him and, grabbing another fist full of Spike's hair, began dragging him down the hallway, and that's what he was still doing. Spike had been dragged down two hallways and a flight of stairs by nothing but his hair roots. "WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING THIS," Spike yelled as Obsession dragged him through a doorway into a dark room.  
  
"Because you refused to get into the romantic mood needed for this special day," Obsession said with a heavy soap-opera sigh, "I decided to give you a small lesson in 'you always hurt the one you love'. Now then, I won't have to do that again if you agree to behave!"  
  
"Bite me", Spike growled as Obsession came towards him, taking a key out of his pocket as he came.  
  
"We'll save that for later sweetie", Obsession said, dragging Spike over towards the center of the room in which the lights had not come on in. All that Spike could see with the limited amount of light that came in from the hallway was that there was a table in the center with a white sheet covering it. Obsession, still holding onto Spike's leg with one hand, reached onto the table with the other and pulled something black off of it. He then crawled over to Spike's head, the black thing now reveled as a piece of cloth trailing behind him, and propping Spike's head up with his knees, tied the cloth around Spike's head. Spike didn't necessarily go for THAT either, the entire time he was flopping around like a fish out of water. Obsession gave a small giggle, "You're cute when you're angry", and Spike felt Obsession's lips connect with his for a few seconds. Right after the lips went away from his face, Spike spit upwards in disgust, only guessing and hoping that he had hit Obsession full in the face.  
  
Apparently he was correct as Obsession slapped him across the right side of his face, "that wasn't very nice lover!"  
  
"Kiss me again and you'll get more then spit in your face, you'll get a FIST," Spike retorted.  
  
"Well then, we'll have to be sure to keep these on then, won't we," Obsession said calmly, giving the handcuffs around Spike's wrists a yank. Spike gave Obsession the "one-fingered salute", though he doubted Obsession saw it since Spike was lying on his hands. He heard Obsession get up off the floor and walk on over to the door, and hearing a click, the black that had been in front of Spike's eyes became a grey, indicating that the lights were now on. Obsession came back over, lifting Spike off of the ground by grabbing him underneath his shoulders, and dragged him over a few feet, then sitting him down in a chair. He felt the manacles being removed from his feet, but before he could even react and kick, Obsession had put two other chains around his ankles. Next Obsession grabbed him by his wrists and removed the handcuffs. He then brought them around to the front and cuffed them to the table. Finally the blindfold was removed and Spike's eyes only took a few seconds to adjust to the lighting.  
  
The room had been redone by the decorator from hell it seemed. It was tasteful, but everything was way too red for Spike's liking. The florescent lights overhead had been painted over with some kind of translucent color so that the whole room was enveloped in a red haze. Heart-shaped red, white, and pink balloons were floating all around the room and the walls were covered in hearts that were painted with what Spike had the sickening feeling was blood from the odor and the way that the hearts dripped menacingly. The table was set with shining silverware and plates that reflected the images around the room in their circular distorted ways. There were two candlesticks also set up on the table with the candles on them unlit at the moment, along with a bottle of champagne in a silver bucket.  
  
"The typical romantic evening huh", Spike mumbled to himself. He looked directly across from him to where Obsession was seated. Obsession had the sick love-struck look in his eye that Spike had seen before in chick flicks, and loathed and despised. "Stop that", he growled.  
  
"Stop what honey", Obsession asked with a look of innocent shock on his face. The thought then occurred to Spike for the millionth time since this whole business had started that this guy was truly twisted; he didn't even realize that any of this was wrong. He just sat there sighing at him like a girl with a high-school crush on the boy sitting in front of her in Math class. Spike let out a sigh through his teeth, casting his eyes down. He was becoming nauseous by the mere sight of that man. He decided to focus yet again on trying to get free. However, that task seemed bleak. His hands were tied down so close to the table that the only thing that Spike could do with them was pick up the silverware. Spike tried tugging anyway, but soon discovered how futile it was. "Is something wrong sweetie? You seem distressed", Obsession said, reaching his hand across the table and touching Spike's hand. Spike's face flinched and he tried to pull away, but his handcuffs would only let him pull away about a foot.  
  
"And what reason would I have not to be distressed," Spike yelled at Obsession, straining against his bonds, "You kill my friends, desecrate the ship, stalk and kidnap me, you KISSED me for Christ sake! What makes you think that I should be calm?!"  
  
Obsession let out another one of his little giggles that made Spike want to rip his head straight off of his neck, "Aw, my little man's just cranky because he's hungry! If you're ready to eat now, it's all prepared!" With that he got up from the table and went over to a far corner of the room where a tray was set up with two silver platters with lids and a single red rose in a vase. He reached underneath the tray and pulled out a red apron. Turning around so Spike to see it and striking a modeling pose, Spike rolled his eyes when he read the inscription "Kiss the Cook" on Obsession's chest. He wheeled the tray over, whistling that damned "Valentine" song and stopped by Spike's plate. He set one of the platters in front of Spike and, taking the rose out of the vase, put the rose in Spike's hair. He giggles to himself again as he set the other platter in front of his chair. He turned back to Spike's plate and lifted up the lid on the platter, revealing a singed piece of meat that Spike guessed was supposed to be Filet Minion, and some kind of rice dish. Obsession went back over to his own side, lifted up the lid on his platter, tossed it aside, and dug into his dinner.  
  
Spike stared at his plate, having no desire, and not daring, to eat the food set before him. He looked over at Obsession who was currently cutting his food at the speed of light and shoving it into his mouth. That was another stereotype for gay men to cross off his list; first that they were weak, and now that they had excellent table manners. Obsession, sensing Spike's gaze, lifted his face to him and Spike shut his eyes in disgust. Apparently beneath its burned-to-a-crisp exterior, the meat was incredibly raw because as Obsession had looked up; Spike had seen at least twenty small streams of red trailing down Obsession's face. It had made his look like some kind of cannibal that was hungrily looking at its next meal. "Why aren't you eating love", Obsession asked, motioning with his knife to Spike's untouched plate. Spike glared back with a glowering expression on his face, wishing that Obsession would just disappear, or even better, burst into flames and melt right in front of him. Unfortunately, Obsession misinterpreted these signs of hostility and a smile spread across his face, bringing back the cannibal picture to Spike's mind. "Do you want to bypass the dinner portion of this date and go on to the next level", Obsession asked in a low voice, leaning forward towards his unwilling captive. Spike let out a horrified gasp as he felt a foot brushing up and down his leg.  
  
Instead of yelling at Obsession to get his fucking foot off of him, Spike put on a sweet smile and cooed, "Obsession, do you think that with these chains on my feet that I could possible reach over and do to you what you're doing to me?"  
  
"I would think so", Obsession said in the same low voice, placing an elbow on the table and resting his head on the arm's fingers with a smile.  
  
"Well then, unless you feel like going through a testicle retrieval operation, I suggest that you keep your FEET to YOURSELF", Spike yelled, kicking out as he yelled. Just at that moment however, Obsession put his hands on the edge of the table and pushed away just out of Spike's leg's reach. Now he was pissed. He got up and stormed over to Spike, wiping the blood off of his chin as he did, and kneeling beside Spike. He was exactly at Spike's eye level and was staring at him with stone eyes. Spike shrunk back slightly under that gaze, for maybe the second time in his life, he was truly afraid, but he knew that if Obsession killed him, at least he would not ever have to see that ugly face again.  
  
Obsession's eyes never lost their tone as he spoke, "Now you listen Spike, you'll live a lot longer if you don't upset me. I have a very short temper when it comes to people and I can not be held responsible for my actions when I get mad!" As he spoke, he grabbed Spike's wrist and squeezed it tight. Spike's eyes stared back into Obsession's with the same intense cold look. "Do I make myself clear?" Spike had to grit his teeth against a yelp as he heard a snap under Obsession's grasp and pain shot up his arm. That pain must've flashed in Spike's eyes for a brief moment because Obsession gave a superior smirk, getting up and going back to his seat. "Good. Now then eat your dinner before it gets cold."  
  
"No thank you," Spike said, his death-glare still in place and following Obsession with his eyes, "I'm not hungry."  
  
"Very well, but you're letting a perfectly good meal go to waste, I got it off of a Chinese man I once knew", Obsession said, digging into his meal again.  
  
"Really, I was under the impression that Filet Minion was French", Spike said, his voice sounding for some reason even unknown to him civil. It must've been that the fear was starting to finally take root in him, afraid of what would happen if Obsession did get angry.  
  
"What are you talking about, this isn't Minion," Obsession said, lifting up a newly cut piece with his fork, "this is dog." Spike watched in horror as Obsession popped the piece of meat into his mouth, eating it slowly and chewing with his mouth open, making a distinctive "Mmm-mm-mmm" noise.  
  
"Ein . . . ." Spike mumbled to himself, staring at the small piece of meat in front of him.  
  
"Yes, if that's what you called your little yapping friend," Obsession said, wiping off his chin again, "but you may be the smart one, not eating I mean Pumpkin. That thing was sitting there for a long time and I'm not sure if the meat had turned or not."  
  
"You sick, disgusting bastard", Spike said in a low, dangerous voice.  
  
"I'll pretend that I didn't hear that," Obsession said nonchalantly, picking up the bottle of wine, "drink?"  
  
"Not in a million years", Spike growled. If this was going to be what the rest of his life was like, then Obsession should just kill him now. He was in no mood for pleasantries.  
  
"Are you sure? Earth, 2031, very good year", Obsession said in the tone of a mother trying to get her son to eat his vegetables. Any second Spike imagined that Obsession would break out a spoonful for him and start making airplane noises.  
  
"You drink wine from the time of the Phase Gate accident? No wonder you're loony," Spike said with a bark of a laugh, "That stuffs got more contaminates in it then the government's got missiles!" Obsession just put on a toothy grin and got up out of his seat. _Flight 2031, coming in for landing! Destination: Spike!_ Obsession pulled off the cork that was loosely placed in the top of the bottle and stopped behind Spike's chair. He waved the bottle in front of Spike's face, draping his other arm over Spike's shoulder.  
  
"You sure that you won't even have a bit", Obsession asked in a close-to- whiney voice. Spike turned his head from the bottle to the arm that was dangling over his shoulder, and replied by biting the arm as hard as his jaw would allow. For one brief instant he tasted blood and spit out the arm from his mouth.  
  
"That answer your question", Spike asked, tilting his head over his shoulder. Knowing Obsession, he probably put some kind of poison or knock- out drug into the wine. He wasn't sure what exactly happened next, but he somehow ended up on the floor with his wrists screaming out in pain since they were still attached to the table, his nose was plugged and his mouth was open and he was very aware of a bottle in his mouth and liquid being literally forced down his throat. He tried to turn his head to get air, but the hand that was holding his nose closed was also holding his face. The only way that he would be able to get oxygen would be to drink the whole bottle of wine before his lungs died on him. He began sucking on the bottle, forcing the liquid through his mouth and down his throat as fast as he could. He looked up at Obsession during all of this and saw that the "evil monster" smile was back.  
  
When the entire contents of the bottle were gone, the bottle was pulled out of Spike's mouth and he took in a deep breath, like he was trying to get all the oxygen out of the room in one breath. The hand was taken away from his nose and he began using that to get more oxygen to his brain. He felt like he was going to throw up at any moment and the room was slightly fuzzy and spinning a little. He slowly righted himself and rested his head on the table, scraping his tongue with his teeth to try to get the taste of the wine out of his mouth, good God that was nasty! His face grimaced as his stomach took a nasty turn and leaning over his right arm, he threw up. A smelly wetness on his leg told him that he had not been as successful as he'd hoped in not upchucking on himself. He saw through his distorted vision that Obsession was coming towards him with a napkin and he tried vainly to scoot away, landing himself in the puddle of his own vomit.  
  
"Tsk, tsk my little man, look at what you've done, you've made a mess of yourself", Obsession said, kneeling down next to Spike and rubbing at Spike's thigh with the napkin. Spike's mind came back to its full strength for one fleeting second when he noticed that the hand with the napkin was slowly going higher up his leg.  
  
"Get away from me you sick fuck", Spike growled getting to his feet, though he soon fell down again and his growl came out as more of a moan.  
  
"Aw, my poor man's sick! He needs somebody to care for him", Obsession said, running a hand over Spike's forehead. He reached up and undid the handcuffs on Spike's hands, and as it turned out that was the only thing keeping him upright because he fell over with a "clunk". Obsession then undid the shackles on Spike's feet and picked Spike up, hanging him over his shoulder. Spike was vaguely aware of what was happening, but his fight- or-flight response was going off like mad. He looked over on the table and an object immediately caught his interest: a long, sharp, black-handled streak knife. Spike reached out and grabbed hold of the handle not a moment too soon as Obsession adjusted Spike on his shoulder and walked out the door.  
  
Normally, Spike would've used the knife immediately, but as was clearly evident to anyone looking at him at that time, he was in no condition to wield it. His eyes were unfocused and he was frequently shaking his head in vain attempts to clear up his impaired vision. If he struck out with the knife now, he was most likely to miss or to hit a non-lethal spot, leaving himself completely vulnerable. He had to wait for the opportune moment. (A/N: (cackles) Bow before me and my mighty Pirates of the Caribbean reference! . . . . . . which I don't own either!)  
  
However, by the time that Obsession had carried Spike to their destination, it appeared that that "opportune moment" would never appear or had passed by completely. Before entering the room, Obsession swung Spike over his shoulder and held him in both arms like a groom with a bride going across the threshold of their first house. Obsession smiled at Spike lovingly and Spike turned his head the other way, feeling another wave of nausea coming on. His head throbbed and his eyebrows were working like they had two minds of their own, trying desperately to keep his eyes open and adding comic flair to his features. He had never felt so tired in his life, and this was not the time for it! "Gotta stay awake! Gotta stay awake," he chanted to himself in his mind, "Gotta stay awake! Gotta stay a-oh fuck!" That last part came through his mouth loud and clear as he was carried into the room. It was decorated like the last room, the "dinning room" with the concealed red lighting and the heart-shaped balloons, but it was missing the table and chairs. In their places there were wide, short, multi-wicked candles in varying colors and scents set up burning all around. Set directly in the middle of them was a heart-shaped bed with red silk sheets and pink, red, and white satin pillows scattered around on it. It looked like some cheesy honeymoon sweet from a one-star hotel one finds on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere.  
  
"Oh look! Isn't it beautiful honey," Obsession said in a high voice, "we'll be living from here for awhile!" Spike shifted in Obsession's arms, looking around the room and groaning. Just then, Obsession noticed the steak knife in Spike's hand. He grabbed it before Spike could react as his reflexes were slowed from intoxication. "I don't think that you'll need this here love", Obsession said, planting a kiss on Spike's neck and throwing the knife into a corner of the room. Spike watched it go, flying over and landing planted in the floor, his last chance of escape in-bedded in . . . . . dear God, shag carpeting! Obsession walked over and plopped Spike down on the bed. Spike immediately scooted up to the headboard of the bed, which was difficult as the mattress kept sagging underneath him, it was a water bed. Spike curled up into the fetal position when he found out he couldn't scoot back anymore, hugging his knees to his chest.  
  
Obsession was watching all of this with a humored smirk on his face. When Spike seemed to have found his comfy spot, Obsession patted the end of the bed, trying vainly to get Spike back to the front and sending wave after wave through the beds' contents. Spike had a fleeting thought on whether Obsession was compensating for something, remembering an ancient saying among the women about the size of a boat and the motion of the ocean. It brought a flickering smile to his lips and Obsession seemed to take that as a good sign as he stood straight up and walked over to a stereo system. After a few buttons were punched, the room was soon filled with that same old "My Funny Valentine" song. Obsession stopped, his back still to Spike, and began crooning along with the music. Spike was about to let a biting remark like "Spare me" or "Don't quit your day job if you got one" slip out of his mouth, but then it dawned on him that Obsession wasn't looking at him, now was his chance to get the knife!  
  
He slowly got up off the bed, his legs shaking slightly and the bed making a dull sloshing sound to accompany the music. The knife was in a corner that was right by Obsession, if he got close enough without Obsession noticing and dived at it, he could get it. He slowly began walking over, trying to be careful and avoid the dozens of candles scattered on the floor. He could see the knife clearly now, which was saying something since he was sure that he no longer had anywhere near 20/20 vision. He was so close to the knife, but what he didn't realize was that he was even closer to Obsession and the psychopath chose that time of all times to turn around. His eyes lit up with joy as he saw Spike up and about, reaching out his arms like he was about to give a hug.

"Oh Spike, you didn't have to come to me! I'd have been right there in a second!" He took a step towards Spike, but Spike was too close to his goal to let this obstacle stop him! He ducked under Obsession's open arms and dived at the knife. Obsession realized what was happening and dove as well, grabbing Spike around the legs, but not before Spike had wrapped his fingers around the handle of the knife and pulled it free. For Spike, it was like a slow motion "sword in the stone" moment. He now had the power to vanquish his captor and he was expecting angels to descend from the heavens at any time, sustaining one note and then going into the "Halleluiah" chorus. But that didn't happen, there was just Frankie singing in the background and Obsession talking to him. "Now Spike darling, I thought that we'd put the resistance phase behind us", Obsession said in the tone of someone trying to stop their spouse from jumping out of the window. Still holding onto Spike's legs with one arm, he reached up with the other and tried to take the knife away again.  
  
Spike however was still in the mood for resisting, and as the hand grabbed for the knife, he lifted it up and brought it right down through the hand. Blood spurted from the wound and Obsession let out a noise that can only be described as a "URGH!" (A/N: Ok, that was stupid. (sits over in a corner in shame)) "THAT WAS FOR FAYE!" Spike screamed, pulling the knife back out and raising it again. He got on top of Obsession and slashed the knife across the side of Obsession's throat, "AND THAT ONE'S FOR JET!" Obsession bucked up, throwing Spike off of him with the knife still in his hand. Obsession grabbed at his neck, which was now spraying blood on the walls, a shocked look on his face. He then wheeled around to look at Spike, who was still on the ground but ready to pounce again at any moment.  
  
"Darling," Obsession said, his face full of forgiveness, "how can you still defend that hoar and bastard? They were trying to separate us! I did it all for you! And this, (he removed his hand from his neck for one second, letting the blood spray out), is how you repay me for my generosity?!" His face suddenly went dark and murderous and he leaped at Spike. Spike, still drunk, barely made it out of the way and managed to slash at Obsession's face. Obsession let out a scream of half terror and half fury as he landed face-first on the ground. He turned towards Spike with a one-eyed death- glare as the slash from the knife had punctured his left eye, and it was now leaking blood too. Obsession was on his hands and knees and began crawling towards Spike, panting hard and growling. "Make no mistake Spike, you will be mine, TONIGHT", Obsession yelled, leaping at Spike yet again. Spike however, leaped at the same time and ended up on top of Obsession.  
  
"Ta Hell I will", Spike yelled raising the knife again and brining it down with all his might into Obsession's back. He pulled it out and began stabbing again and again, anger and fury driving his hand Obsession was dead, it was over. But Spike's body still thirsted for vengeance, for retaliation. His eyes watched in horror as his own hands took the knife and began hacking away at Obsession's neck, trying to sever the head from the body.  
  
"NO", Spike screamed at his body and pried his hands away. He stood up slowly; his blue suit now turned a nasty shade of purple by blood. He walked around Obsession's corpse which was face-down on the ground, slowly circling like a vulture. Suddenly he swooped down and grabbed Obsession's arm and pulled. Obsession's body turned over onto its back and Spike let out an involuntary shudder as he looked at the face. On that sick murderer's face was a smile, a twisted macabre smile. If this had been a suspense movie, this would've been the time where the music went loud and half the audience screamed. That smile would haunt Spike forever, he knew it. It was a mix between one of contentment and evil and stretched across his entire face. Spike began to laugh, first a snicker, then a chuckle, then his shoulders started to shake, and finally his face burst forth in a huge smile and his laughs echoed throughout the ship no doubt. Spike didn't know if it was from relief or madness but he didn't care! He laughed and laughed and laughed, kicking at the smiling cadaver as he did.  
  
Getting some minor control over himself, Spike turned to leave, giving the stupid corpse one final kick before he did. That was when he heard it.  
  
"Spiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike . . . . .."  
  
Spike stood stock still; it was like someone had stuck a lightning rod in him and the electricity went all up and down his back.  
  
"Spi-iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike . . . . . . . . ."  
  
"No, nononononononononononononononono," Spike though to himself as he slowly turned around. "He can't be alive! I killed him! I did!" He turned around and walked over to Obsession's corpse. (A/N: the stupid people in horror movies ALWAYS go back to danger zones!) It was still sitting there, nothing had changed. Then all of a sudden, Spike heard the voice again.  
  
"You didn't kill me Spiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike," the voice said, high and misty. It was like evil itself trying to sound caring. It was the Big Bad Wolf in granny's nightgown, putting on the high voice to lure in Little Red Riding Hood, "I'll be with you forever now!"  
  
Spike's breathing was becoming distorted again. He could see Obsession's vocal chords through the many cuts that were made and they weren't moving, the smile had never left the dead face, how could this be happening?! "No, this is all a dream, a nightmare. I'll wake up and it'll be just the way that it used to be!"  
  
"It will never be the same Spiiiiiiike," the voice chimed in and Spike was horrified to find that it was coming from within his own head! Spike screamed in terror, grasping at his head, falling to his knees, doubling over so that his face was mere inches from the ground. "Don't worry Spike, life will be better now! We're together!"  
  
"SHUT UP!" Spike yelled at the top of his lungs. He was hyperventilating now; his heartbeat was racing, as if at any moment it would burn itself out. "No, I won't be quiet, you need me now. I'm the only person that you have in the world," the voice said, but this time it came out of Spike's mouth. As soon as Spike realized this he let out a scream of terror. Getting up, he ran out of the door and screaming down the hallway. He was trying to escape, trying to escape the dream, _it was a dream right?! It HAD to be!_ He kept on running down the hallway, there was a dead end ahead and he knew it, but he couldn't stop himself, his mind was too focused on trying to figure out the madness that was racing through his head. Then, it all stopped, everything went black. Spike's body collided with the wall and he fell with a loud "thud" on the hallway floor.  
  
)))))))))))))))))))))))))  
  
"Everything seems clear here, moving to next level," a voice echoed through the darkness of the Bebop. It came from a man in uniform talking in a small walkie-talkie device. Even though there was clearly oxygen still in the room, he wore a large gas mask that fitted over his head and hat; he was an ISSP agent, "How long has this ship been out here anyway?"  
  
"Don't know," a voice came in over the other end of the walkie-talkie, "Judging by rate of decay and hull damage I'd say around a year or two. Any sign of the owners yet?"  
  
"That would be a negative, I don't think that anybody _could_ live on this hunk of junk, much less want to," the man in the mask replied. As he walked down the dark hallway, he seemed to see something moving in the shadows ahead. He took one step towards it and it was gone. "I think I might've just seen someone, I'm going to go check it out."  
  
"Ok, be careful and watch yourself!" the other voice said. The policeman walked down the hallway, looking ahead into the darkness he decided it might be time for a little more light and he turned on a small flashlight. He began swinging it around, looking at the ordinary steel walls, regular steel ceiling, and the bloody footprints on the ground. He kneeled down to make a closer inspection. They were definitely human and large, making the person maybe 6' or 6'1". He was about to call in his findings when he saw a light flickering up ahead. It was coming out a doorway a few feet ahead and was reflecting on the opposite wall. He began walking towards it cautiously, pulling out his gun as he did. As he got closer, he heard a peculiar sound coming out of the room, it sounded like music, but the player was messed up or the disk scratched as it stopped every few seconds. He stopped by the doorway and called out, "This is the ISSP, and we're looking for the owner of this vessel!"  
  
From the inside of the room, a voice could be heard, "Did you hear that Jet? They're looking for you!" A gruff voice called out to the policeman outside to come in, and the agent walked into the room. As he entered his eyes widened in shock and horror, and he dropped his flashlight. There in front of him was a table, decked out for a fancy dinner complete with candles and shriveled roses, with five chairs sitting around it. All of the chairs were occupied; the first was by a brown-haired body with a clown- from-hell smile on his face and wide staring eyes. The second and third chairs were occupied by heads, one of a balding man with black hair and the other of a woman with purple hair that had at one time been apparently beautiful. All of these corpses now however were wrinkled and white or green. In the forth seat was what appeared to be a small dog, with no eyes and half of its guts pulled out. And then in the fifth chair, staring right at him was a brown-haired man in a dark suit with dried blood on his fingers.  
  
"Welcome to the celebration, it's been so long since any of us had visitors, isn't that right all?" the man said, turning his head towards the other chairs. The man's face then went through a freak metamorphosis of faces and voices coming out of his mouth. Ranging from a low man's voice to a higher girl's pitch, and ending with a dog-like wolf. The agent slowly began lifting his foot to run, but the man spoke first, "Oh please don't go, won't you come and join us? I'm sure that everybody would just LOVE IT!" With that the man jumped up from the table and ran at the cop. The agent let out a yell and began sprinting down the hallway, he could hear the man's boots hitting the metal hard behind him, and the sound was getting louder.  
  
The agent picked up his walkie-talkie and turned it on while still running. He flipped the talk switch and yelled into it, "REQUESTING BACKUP! REQUESTING BACKUP! SOMEBODY HELP ME PLEA-", but his message was cut short. The man grabbed the walkie-talkie from behind and smashed it against the wall. The agent stumbled and fell to the ground, ending up back-down on the floor. The last thing that he remembered was seeing two red eyes burning angrily down at him, hands around his neck, and a voice yelling at him sternly "You're not going to leave ME!"  
  
_ Das Ende_


End file.
